good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this monday the 21st of march welcome wherever you are in the world we've lots to say about the 21st of march but the most important thing this morning is to continue our prayers for ukraine and especially the stricken city of marupol and the citizens are still remaining there so our prayers are very much with them and keep them in your hearts and minds not only as we pray this morning but throughout this day at the same time march the 21st here in the northern hemisphere is the vernal equinox when the hours of day and the hours of night are in equal measure and vernal meaning spring equinox but the southern hemisphere autumnal equinox but a significant date in the astronomical year and at the same time it is here in england and the most beautiful day here in kent should i say probably i'm not speaking for the whole of england but it is the most beautiful day no wind whatsoever a perfect blue sky and at the same time and we always get this at this time of year if we have a perfect blue sky lovely sun rising behind me here uh very stiff frost this morning and it's dealt a certain blow to those magnolias that were in full flower there's one in the front garden of the deanery a stellata with which was in huge white flower and the petals look a bit sad this morning after the stiff frost the whole of the green court in front of the house was white with frost when i got up this morning and uh then behind us here we have uh magnolia stellata which we planted a younger version and the flowers there look look as though they will survive but frost is really deadly to the spring flowers of the magnolias and we have one really big one which we hope to show you when it begins with its tulip cups to open up in the next few days while we're looking at these flowers the stellata the magnolia we want on this day march the 21st to wish danny fletcher's sister a very happy birthday in spain with arabella and jackie fletcher's mother and of course there's six ukrainian extended family who've come to join them there so happy birthday danny so we give thanks for the coming of the spring the first day of spring march the 21st but there are other other things that we can think of today and we'll do that in our reflection we've missed over the last two days because sunday yesterday had special lessons and the day before was of course the feast of st joseph so we've missed out in our readings from john chapter seven so i'm picking up with that today after we've said our opening prayers and psalms and you brought your own intentions and concerns from across the world we'll pick that up today and just do a little recap to catch us up with john and then take us through to the end of chapter seven so let's begin our prayers on this particular day and we have the company of leo who's gone to the other side of the table he's very fond of this table because the wood gets warm in the sunshine but it hasn't happened yet oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice o lord according to your faithful love according to your judgment give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this 21st morning of the month is the long psalm 105 and we'll read sections of that this morning oh give thanks to the lord and call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing praises and tell of all his marvelous works rejoice in the praise of his holy name let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the lord seek the lord and his strength seek his face continually remember the marvels he has done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth o seed of abraham his servant o children of jacob his chosen he is the lord our god his judgments are in all the earth he has always been mindful of his covenant the promise that he made for a thousand generation he brought his people out of egypt with silver and gold there was not one among their tribes that stumbled egypt was glad at their departing for a dread of them had fallen upon him he spread out a cloud for a covering and a fire to light up the night they asked and he brought them quails he satisfied them with the bread of heaven he opened the rock and the waters gushed out and ran in the dry places like a river for he remembered his holy word and abraham his servant so he brought forth his people with joy his chosen ones with singing he gave them the lands of the nations and they took possession of the fruit of their toil that they might keep his statutes and faithfully observe his laws notice the imagery of the bread of heaven and streams of water springing from the rock and gushing out like a river watering the dry places takes us back to our fig tree with deep roots that we were thinking about yesterday well let's go on now and go back to the gospel of saint john and we are in chapter seven but i'm picking up from verse 32 and we'll read to the end of the chapter remember jesus in jerusalem has been facing much hostility and violence and the sense that people are even wanting to compass his death but at verse 32 we hear that officers from the jewish authorities are sent to arrest him the pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about jesus and the chief priests and pharisees sent officers to arrest him jesus then said i will be with you a little longer and then i am going to him who sent me you will seek me and you will not find me where i am you cannot come so the jews said to one another where does this man intend to go to that we will not find him does he intend to go to the dispersion among the greeks and teach the greeks what does he mean by saying you will seek me and you will not find me and where i am you cannot come and on the last day of the feast the great day jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts let them come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of their heart will flow rivers of living water now this jesus said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because jesus had not yet been glorified when they heard these words some of the people said this really is the prophet others said this is the christ but some said is the christ to come from galilee has not the scripture said that the christ comes from the offspring of david and comes from bethlehem the village where david was so there was a division among the people over him some of them wanted to arrest him but no one laid hands on him the officers then came back to the chief priests and pharisees who said to them why did you not bring him the officers answered no one ever spoke like this man the pharisees answered them have you also been deceived have any of the authorities or the pharisees believed in him but this crowd that does not know the law is accursed but nicodemus who had gone to jesus before and who was one of them said to them does our lord judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does they replied are you from galilee too search and see that no prophet arises from galilee it's an interesting lesson and we find jesus once again in controversy bitter controversy and violent controversy with the pharisees and the chief priests now they're an unlikely combination for the chief priestly family were not pharisees but sadducees a completely you can say a different theological party but also a different political party and the sadducees were the ruling power the pharisees were very disciplined in their worship and in the gospels they get a bad press but in fact saint paul of course was brought up amongst them and believed that they were fulfilling the law in every detail at that time and so these two groups together with the herodians who are political supporters of herod the king and the tetrarch in galilee at that time those three were unlikely allies but they're united in their hostility to jesus who was unsettling the people and challenging their authority as they saw it he himself would not have thought that at all but he felt a compulsion to preach the word that was why he was sent and it was a word that was given by the one who sent him he keeps saying that i'm not preaching to you on my own authority i preach with the authority of the one who sent me the creator the one he teaches us to call abba father and what that teaching means in the words he now begins to say but for the moment notice how in those first verses we're once again on the two levels where i am you cannot come says jesus meaning unless you enter into the world of the spirit and believe you will never find me and jesus knows that this is a a difficulty and nicodemus appears later on who still had that difficulty when he went to see jesus by night in the third chapter of saint john's gospel well here we have then jesus being confronted by the jews officers of the law being sent to arrest him and at the same time the jews thinking where can he be going and they're only thinking in physical terms will he across the river jordan and go to the other side and start preaching amongst the dispersion of jews amongst the greeks what does he mean by saying you will seek me will not find me and where i am you cannot come all on a human plane and jesus now we're told begins to speak of the gift of the spirit which those who believe will receive as he had been witnessed receiving by john the baptist in the first chapter of saint john's gospel and seeing the spirit descend in the form of a dove we find that in the gospels and at the same time jesus intends that that gift of the spirit is the gift that will be given to those who believe once he is glorified i when i am lifted up will draw all peoples to myself which he says once again in jerusalem when he is teaching and when the greeks ask a question but that's still to come for the moment let's go on because on the last day of the feast jesus seems to follow the advice of his brothers james and joseph and judas and simon who said go and make yourself known if you want your word known go make yourself known no one who keeps secret is ever known go and make yourself known and he now does on the last day of the feast the great day he stands up and cries out if anyone thirsts let them come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of their heart will flow rivers of living water and the evangelist adds now this he said about the spirit whom those who believe in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because jesus was not yet glorified we're seeing the time sequence my hour is not yet my hour has not yet come but when my hour comes i when i am lifted up and that hour comes with the question to philip from the greeks eventually sir we would like to see jesus and jesus says now my hour has come the hours come for the son of man to be lifted up but for the moment we're in the time of of waiting but jesus crying out whoever comes to me if anyone says let them come to me and drink and what will happen out of their heart will flow rivers of living water the gift will be for them for us to give to a world which is thirsty for that message and for that sense of entering into the life of the spirit which then translates itself into spiritual gifts which can be given physically for the compassion welfare and life of those with whom we come into contact and who also could receive that gift of the spirit so that living water will flow from them this is one of the most beautiful signs because it involves us it's not an i am the founder of living water of course he is but it's you are from you will come rivers of living water and he mentions the prophecy and i think he's talking about isaiah chapter 44 and isaiah chapter 55 where people are invited to drink of the living waters and also the earth is bathed in that refreshment and the signs given by the prophet are of the of the springing of the earth as water falls in dry places and all of this is prophetic remember jesus said i didn't come to destroy the law or the prophets i came to fulfill them and here is the fulfillment given given of the gift of the spirit but jesus had not yet been glorified so that little nub that's 37-39 is crucial for saint john's gospel but then we go back and we see the argument raging between those who say but he can't be the messiah because the messiah can't come from galilee he's meant to come from bethlehem and we then remember how that house of david's story has told us in the synoptic gospels say bethlehem of course we think of jesus and we think of him as of the royal line of david but at the same time he is jesus of nazareth in galilee and we go back to the ordinary statement of nathaniel which we heard yesterday can anything good come out of nazareth and the answer is absolutely yes and nathanael embraces that and is told that a ladder of of uh of angels he'll see heaven opened and angels ascending and descending on the son of man but will be also part of that group who can receive that gift but will become the first messengers of that gift but meanwhile the officers of the law go back and they say but where is he you went to arrest him and notice what they say no man ever spoke like this man and the pharisees are furious and said and they say have any of us gone to him and then we come across the character of nicodemus who is really the answer yes they have nicodemus did go to him by night and nicodemus says does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing learning what he does and they spit back at him search the scriptures no prophet ever arises from galilee there's a sort of uh sense of contempt about galilee from these sophisticated judeans in jerusalem and those who hold power well let's then think of this day first of all as i say it's the first day of spring which is lovely but also in 2013 on this day the 21st of march i enthroned and installed justin welby as the 105th archbishop of canterbury in the chair of saint augustine so this was a real festival day on that day and completely a place of busyness and reception of of royal visitors and all kinds of other visitors and so the house was buzzing with with lunch laid out all over the garden and things because it was an afternoon service and we were all getting ready for this amazing enthronement and we remember it as a very happy day the 21st of march but when we were planning the service and we were looking at themes we realize that the 21st of march in the modern calendar of the church of england is the day on which we commemorate archbishop thomas cranmer who on this day was burned at the stake in 1556 and is commemorated as a martyr banned at broad street on the broad street in oxford and at the same time on the 21st of march 547 st benedict of nursia died and for many many years until rules began to take major feasts out of lent and tried to place them somewhere else where great celebrations could be held this was the feast of saint benedict so on the day of justin's enthronement we are kept a dimension of the feast of thomas cranmer and a dimension of the feast of saint benedict of narcia let's start with him because both these characters that we remember today benedict and thomas cranmer are remembered most of all for things that they have written and i'm meaning of course the rule of saint benedict and and as far as cranmer is concerned the book of common prayer and there's quite a connection between them benedict of narcia was born in umbria but uh went on to try to work out he was born in about 480 a.d and he went on to try and work out a way of life that was right for him and he started by a hermetic type of of life a solitary kind of life and then when others came to him and began to seek his counsel and wisdom in the living of that kind of life he found himself in a little community and was drawn more to that and eventually of course it's the benedictine community that we think of living by the rule which benedict of narcia created and we've spoken about that rule before spoken about the fact that this is a rule of immense versatility it's also a model of monastic moderation and compassionate discipline it's not too fierce but at the same time it is full of words like balance and encouragement lived out in a community and if i wanted to say so what are the principles of the rule of thin benedict uh you could go first of all to the old adage uh aura at labora pray and work but if i say it simply i would say that it is a living out of the christian life in community which gives daily exercise and refreshment to body mind and spirit and at the same time is lived out in a community given to hospitality that's the essence of it and it has had many many kinds of interpretations and been shown also to be a rule first of all it was a raw for for his monks and very quickly by the seventh century it was also a rule for communities of women too it fits very easily for that as well because we're talking not about so much priesthood very often the benedictine communities especially in early days would just use the services of the parish priest as the pharaohs did it little gidding it's about the saying of the daily office together and of course there's a mass but the priests would come in to do that and that connected them with the community outside later on of course they themselves began to be ordained as priests and could do that but it's at the mass isn't mentioned nearly as much as the divine office and that we find we can say together and when we our closest benedictine connection is with the uh the the the brothers and the sisters of the two communities at le beck eleanor in in normandy and every thursday in canterbury we pray for them and they pray for us and from time to time visits are exchanged and we remember some very happy visits both there and here in canterbury and i remember a very humorous occasion which uh took place when the then abbot uh paul emanuel was here to say farewell to archbishop rowan williams before he laid down his archbishopric and uh paul emanuel was here with several of the brothers on an ordinary sunday morning and rowan was was celebrating and he he was greeting the abbot who was sitting next to me and he made a joke and uh because three of the monks of beck as it was in medieval times uh anselm and lan frank and theobald have become archbishops of canterbury it's a strong connection and uh rowan said uh we are always really pleased to see you father abbott uh and um i am glad to welcome you here this morning to the eucharist in canterbury cathedral um but may i say uh it's quite a coincidence that three of your predecessors as monks sit at lebeck elewha in the abbey of beck in the old days became archbishop of canterbury and i'm just about to lay down that office is it just a coincidence that you are here this morning and everyone laughed including the abbott himself uh but we remember many occasions when the monks were here uh and uh that lovely relationship of the archbishop of canterbury with the abbott of becca the mother superior at beck we we could tell so many stories about that but i remember on that day standing in our hen house and and showing the abbot one of the newly blessed chicks uh and the newly born chicks and and i was holding him in my hand uh and the uh abbott uh looking at fletcher and me said would you like me to bless the chick and uh and name him so i said that would be very good and uh i don't remember whether did paul emanuel hold the chick in his own hands then and name the chick benoit and from then on he became ben and the blessing actually uh was only partly effective because he became our naughtiest cockerel of all time really and uh was a very popular girl but but i'm not a very big one little ben but we enjoyed him for all the years he was with us and we could tell so many stories of that sort with the monks and the sisters of of of lebec elua and we pray for them on this particular morning and remember many happy hours there but we also give thanks for that benedictine rule and when archbishop justin was put into his throne that the the rule was sung in an anthem especially written and created that body mind spirit in community and the rule sets out ample time for sleep and rest but at the same time the hours of the day are split up into times when one worships feeding the spirit and that is worship of salmady being sung and sections of scripture read and that would take place mostly in the oratory they're the smaller offices of the day could be done outside by monks who were at their work in the fields or whatever they were attempting to do for the welfare and creativity of the monastery and so physical work creative work with the body and then study which was crucial theological study but study of all kinds exercising body mind and spirit and each would feed into the other and if if one brother because everyone's so different uh if one brother uh or sister was was more keen on study nevertheless they had to be encouraged in the other aspects of their life and you could go that way round as well because if if the the spirit is fed and the mind is fed but the body is not fed with uh proper creative exercise then the other two suffer as well and you can play that that equation all the way around and living in community is easy for those who are good at one thing to encourage the others also there's a a time of day when people are better some people better in the morning some people people better in the evening but encouragement of one another and acceptance and forgiveness and compassion all those things going on as in any human community and this wonderful rule from all those years back has proved versatile in that and very recently we were saying how people like esther davao and basil hume cardinal hume have shown how the rule can be used in ordinary people's lives and there are multiple books about that so then let's go on now to our our other day our our other date today which is the the the death of thomas cranmer who was burned at the stake as archbishop of canterbury that he was no longer archbishop by then he had become archbishop in the reign of henry viii in 1533 and remained a very very strong friend to king henry viii and was present at the the king's death and very saddened by the king's death and then through the reign of edward vi but when it came to the reign of queen mary and queen mary became queen in 1553 and was queen until 1558 he fell massively out of favor because he was a protestant in her mind archbishop and therefore had to be deposed which he was tried and tried for uh treason and burned at the stake in oxford now it's not that that i want to remember today although this is the date in 1556 when it happened what we remember thomas cranmer for is the way in which he took at the reformation he took the liturgy and particularly the offices of the catholic church and he wove them into a way in the people's own language and one book so that not only priests and monks could use this but everyone could do it and the black cassock of the english clergy is very much developed from the black habit of the benedictine orders at that time who were abolished of course by the the king at that time but cranberry then gave this book with all its timetables and seasons and trying to make it simple enough for people to be able to use in their own language and printing by then was very much something that caused books to be printed in that way so people could have these books and he based morning prayer and evening where he collected all the divine hours of the the the canonical hours into two morning prayer evening prayer or matins even song if you want and said that this is something that people could say at home but most of all he said to the priests and this rule is very much put at the beginning of the book of common prayer that if the parish priest was at home and not let or hindered by sickness or some other urgent pastoral business then at that time he would must go to the parish church and cause the bell to be rung so that his community could not only know that they were being prayed for but could join the priest in prayer at that time [Music] and it's a lovely thing when you are ringing that bell and people come in and uh oftentimes in small communities the priest is able to build up a little community of prayer in that way and and to me that was a a wonderful thing to be ringing the bell if i think of my ministry in tisbury parish church uh i would ring the bell morning and evening and people would come in a small number but they always heard the bell knowing that the work of the church the opposite the work of god was going on on their behalf as they were about their creative labor or their thinking or their family life or even their rest and certainly in times of sickness when people were lying awake the sound of the bell was something that was really important to them so all of that was given so that many more people might be involved in the saying of the divine office and the way in which we use the psalms here in the cathedral takes the sorter right through from day 1 to day 30 and that that saying or singing of the psalms becomes an essence uniting us with all those across the world who who use that that rhythmic kind of liturgy so we're giving thanks for the rule of sin benedict which was the foundation of everything that cranma did in his book of common prayer in the vernacular language of the people and uh when the communities of of of lebek come here of course we can say the offices together there's no division between us in the way in which we use the the the scriptures and particularly the psalms and our book daily prayer which of course we use day by day uh is very much based on that same rhythm so that when i say this is the psalm for this morning i'm using that rhythm which cranmer set but there are many many ways different ways of of using it and so let's give thanks for the way hello um hi uh um let's give thanks for the way in which uh uh uh both cranmer and uh benedict of nursia gave us a rhythm of life which enables us as individuals to take part in in that work and leads us to the gifts of the spirit so that rivers of living water can flow out of us and refresh people and flow out of us not only in our spiritual life but in our thinking and in our sharing in conversation with people and also of course in our physical activity not only glorying in the lovely gifts that god has given each of us in total distinction but at the same time uh being able to be courageous for one another in the physical help that we are able to give and none more so needed than to the refugees fleeing from ukraine at the moment well this is a day when we could go on talking very fruitfully and it's lovely in the garden talking in this way but we better say our prayers so that the rest of the work of the day can begin and uh that gives me a good balance at that point now let me find our list of the ones we're praying for and today we're praying for the diocese of catalin in the anglican church of kenya we're praying also for uh justin our archbishop on this anniversary day and pray for his family for caroline and the family as well because they were all here with great excitement on that day in 2013 uh and uh we're praying for uh the parish of maidstones in faith with ringleston hall and the priest there arthur houston who's one of our non-residential cannons of the cathedral and at the same time we pray for bishop rose of dover and pray for uh bishop emma at lambus bring your own prayers for any whom you would like to pray for as we use first of all the beautiful collect for the third sunday of lent almighty god whose most dear son jesus christ went not up to joy but first he suffered suffered pain and entered not into glory before he was crucified mercifully grant that we walking in the way of the cross may find it to be none other than the way of life and peace through jesus christ our lord amen it's one of the loveliest colics in the book and uh life and peace reminds me of the the simple latin word pax which is overarching the benedictine federation across the world of communities and life and peace are gifts that are being offered to us by our lord being lifted up and the gift of the spirit here's the ash wednesday collect which we say on each day in lent and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language the prayer our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men moment now of reflection and we assist that reflection with music from the communities of beck's singing oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] me [Music] [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] [Music] christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourselves take up your cross daily and follow him and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men well have a a wonderful day and don't forget to write your sentence at the end of the day saying something that is good that seems to have have happened to you maybe a moment of learning maybe a moment of physical exercise or physical perception of mental perception of spiritual perception or something about hospitality within the life of your community so many gifts and graces but all encapsulated by that lovely rule of st benedict [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh there shall be [Music] is [Music] seven three four [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] my is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music]