good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this feast of corpus christi when we give thanks for the blessed sacrament of the bread and the wine and the presence of christ at the altar on this thursday following trinity sunday wherever you are in the world be welcome here and our reflections will think about the significance of this feast day lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit blessed are you sovereign god creator of all to you be glory and praise forever you founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands in the fullness of time you made us in your image and in these last days you have spoken to us in your son jesus christ the word made flesh as we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts your spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips 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 and 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 psalm on this 11th morning of the month is psalm 57 be merciful to me o god be merciful to me for my soul takes refuge in you in the shadow of your wings when i take refuge until the storm of destruction has passed by i will call upon the most high god the god who fulfills his purpose for me he will send from heaven and save me and rebuke those that would trample upon me god will send forth his love and his faithfulness i lie in the midst of lions people whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword be exalted oh god above the heavens and your glory over all the earth they have laid a net for my feet my soul is pressed down they have dug a pitch before me and will fall into it themselves my heart is ready o god my heart is ready i will sing and give you praise awake my soul awake harp and liar that i may awaken the dawn i will give you thanks o lord among the peoples i will sing praise to you among the nations for your loving kindness is as high as the heavens and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds be exalted oh god above the heavens and your glory over all the earth this morning we have the particular new testament lesson for this feast of thanksgiving for the holy eucharist corpus christi and it's in the first letter of saint paul to the corinthians the tenth chapter and the first verse i do not want you to be unaware brothers and sisters that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea and all at the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was christ nevertheless with most of them god was not pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play we must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did and 23 000 fell in a single day we must not put christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents nor grumbled as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer now these things happen to them as an example but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come therefore let anyone who thinks that they stand take heed lest they fall no temptation has ever taken you that is not common to all of us god is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it therefore my beloved brothers and sisters flee from idolatry i speak as to sensible people judge for yourselves what i say the cup of blessing that we bless is it not a participation in the blood of christ the bread that we break is it not a participation in the body of christ because there is one bread we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread it's as though we have gone through all the themes of the christian year from advent sunday right through christmas the epiphany into lent through passion tide and into easter the glorious days of easter up to the ascension on to pentecost on to trinity sunday and then we pause and think of the journey ahead through the ordinary days of the year for it's a long long time until advent sunday again when the church is here with its themes will begin afresh and we think what will sustain us on this journey and we reconnect our lord's words at the supper on maundy thursday on the night that he was betrayed at that time other themes and thoughts were crowding in upon us but today we set aside one day to give thanks for the food and drink with which he blesses us for our journey on the way as we follow god's own will for us that very early christian writing saint paul's letter the first letter to the corinthians already expresses the wonderful gift of the bread and the wine which jesus had taken at the supper and said of each whenever you do this remember me do this in remembrance of me sin paul in his writings is very clear about that and those writings were written down earlier than the writings of the four gospels we are very very much in the life of the early church with all its temptations and in that lesson this morning when we are advised to still clear of idolatry that is that lovely sentence god will not let you be tempted beyond what you can stand i remember at a very difficult period of my life when one of my oldest parishioners sent me a little note full of understanding which said the will of god will not lead you where the grace of god cannot keep you i've kept that little slip of paper but it's very like the lesson we have today but on the way we are sustained by that memory of himself that presence of himself which christ was thoughtful to his apostles as they sat around the table and as that happened then we had a great deal of comfort in listening to it on monday thursday but today we have a day of thanksgiving for that gift quite often we say to people i thought of you today because i did this or i thought of you today because this happened and it always reminds me of you well christ was wise enough to give us a gift which we can always remember him in yes at the altar but also whenever we break bread whenever we share in hospitality around the table even when we do it alone but particularly when we do it with others and especially of course when we celebrate holy communion the eucharist the lord's supper the church has known it by so many different names but today very much we are giving thanks for that gift and valuing it for it shall we say keeps us on the straight and narrow and the reality of it is very strong today is a day when in 1776 the painter john constable was born who captured the landscape of the areas in which he lived in a wonderful way just as musicians can poets can writers can those with any kind of creative art can and i was very used to his painting of salisbury cathedral having spent so much of my life in the diocese of salisbury 17 years there and that great spire was something i knew from pictures hanging on the wall at school in copies of that painting i don't think i even knew where it was at that time but the very famous painting of salisbury cathedral is in the frick gallery in fifth avenue and on the day i walked into the room and saw it it was as if all the reality of constables painting bloomed afresh quite different from any copy just there the room was empty at the time and i was able to see a landscape i knew very well but pictured that blooming in constable's imagination and giving it to me as a memory of so many rich times in ministry in the diocese of salisbury and i was able to give great thanks for that cathedral i do the same for this cathedral church here still for the moment in lockdown but the times are coming very near now when we may be able to go in again and i think on monday people can come and say their prayers here at certain times of day what a blessing that will be but meanwhile today we give thanks for the constant ability to remember christ and when we come together know his presence in the breaking of bread know his presence in the sharing of the cup of wine thanks be to god for this inexpressible gift for our earthly journey amen so we say our prayers for this day and today we remember particularly the anglican diocese of nuwala in tanzania and pray for bishop oscar nunga and his people the diocese of andaman and khan nicobar islands in north india and pray for christopher paul in his ministry as bishop there and his people and the diocese of angola in southern africa and bishop andre sores and his people pray for justin our archbishop rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and today the parish of shepherd's leaves and pray for peter newell and all the people who are served by him in his ministry thou so we say this special prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of the holy communion on this corpus christi lord jesus christ we thank you that in this wonderful sacrament you have given us the memorial of your passion grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we may know within ourselves and show forth in our lives the fruits of your redemption for you are alive and reign with the father and the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen and the psalm collect for this day as we remember all those throughout the world in any kind of need or trouble those who are known to us loved by us but also those we have seen or read about society is in distress and in need of healing on this day when the many are made one by the joining together in the common meal let that be a symbol for the healing of broken societies and communities tender god gentle protector in time of trouble pierce the gloom of despair and give us with all your people the song of freedom and the shout of praise in jesus christ our lord amen so in whatever language you like to use and in whatever way you would normally say it we say together as 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 amen moment of silence now as we make our prayers for this day the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and would pray for today and always amen