good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this monday the 7th of march the first week day of the first full week in lent as we come together to say our morning prayers and as we do so we begin of course with our prayers our constant prayers for the people of ukraine in everything that is happening to them and in their great danger we remember also those who are receiving them as they cross borders and arrive in cities in the western part of ukraine and are needing somewhere to rest somewhere to receive comfort and safety and also a welcome and the possibility of a home perhaps in the lands around and at the moment the reception as we've seen is a wonderful one and we give thanks for that sense of hospitality with the next door nations uh we remember too those who are bravely in russia itself and in uh cities of the ukraine which have been now taken into rotten control demonstrating against this and being really very brave because the dangers for them and for journalists reporting that are immense so all of that and i would point you back as i did yesterday at the eucharist point you back to yesterday's morning prayer which we put out online and we will update that from time to time the contacts that there are where you yourself can make a difference by a contribution so if you go back to yesterday and look at that and find those contacts then then that's where we will continue to update you day by day but for today we've come to a very special place and you can hear that already we've come on a prison visit if you like because as you well know all birds at the moment that are chickens and the guinea fowl and ducky and russell crowe here are in different places in the garden the turkeys because they cannot have any contact with birds outside and there are plenty of those even our little robin because of avian flu and we pray that this will be over soon this is a really serious lockdown and they're not liking it much but this is the law and so that's where they have to be so we've come on a visit to their lockdown because you've not seen them for a bit and i'm sitting here with russell crowe and with the guineas and with ducky here and ducky has a great pond which i hope she's not going to baptize me in but you'll see later on how this fits in with our reflection but for the moment i'm going to ask you to bring your own intentions your own prayers and we will begin our morning prayer for this monday the 7th of march just get my book from over here actually on the tray rolling around is ducky's little offering this morning which i picked up when i came in this is the first duck egg of the day so bring your your own prayers as russell is bringing his as we start our morning prayer for this monday in lent 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 does 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 well the night is past so it's breakfast time and i think these actually deserve their breakfast so we'll begin to give them breakfast here we are there we go there are plenty of them so we'll give them plenty let's keep going here there we are russell you have something you're a big boy this may cause a little bit of scrapping amongst them because there's definitely a pecking order but don't worry they're used to that they're used to each other as well come on greyhen hey come on you're going to be up there you can come down and get some in the moment being shy here we are come on there we go we might replenish that in a bit but we're going to say our psalm and the psalm is psalm 36 for this morning of the month sin whispers to the wicked in the depths of their heart there is no fear of god before their eyes they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out the words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit they have ceased to act wisely and to do good they think out mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way nor do they abhor that which is evil your love o lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds your righteousness stands like the strong mountains your justice like the great deep you lord shall save both man and beast how precious is your loving mercy o god all mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings they shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house they shall drink from the river of your delights for with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light oh continue your lovingkindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart let not the foot of pride come against me nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away or there are they fallen all who work wickedness they are cast down and shall not be able to stand with you is the well of life another image from the psalms which take us straight back to the well in samaria or jacob's well and jacob's world throughout the history of his people it's also for us the sign of water which is such a glory to all of them here and particularly to ducky who's at the moment ferreting around but we'll come and wash yourself i'm sure soon we are in the gospel of saint john and we are this morning starting chapter five and as we do so um i perhaps should say that archbishop william temple in his wonderful set of reflections reading in readings in saint john's gospel actually says he believes that chapter 5 and chapter 6 have it some stage in the fourth gospels history being swapped around and that chapter five chronologically ought to find its place after chapter six and you'll see why because chapter 6 is part of the galilean ministry and chapter 5 takes us to jerusalem i'm actually keen on staying where we are and reading chapter 5 where it should be in our bibles at the moment but i just thought i'd mention that because uh that which goes in chronological order and geographical order is sometimes important to people but for the moment we are at the beginning of chapter five following on from the stories in chapter four now chapter five is an angry chapter and that will become more and more apparent we'll take three days to deal with chapter five and this morning there is one of these stories of one of jesus's miracles let's uh begin after this there was a feast of the jews and jesus went up to jerusalem now there is in jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in aramaic called bethesda which has five roofed column colonnades in these lay a multitude of invalids blind lame and paralyzed waiting for the moving of the water for an angel of the lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred the water whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease they had one man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years and when jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time he said to him do you want to be healed the sick man answered him sir i have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while i am going down another steps down before me jesus said to him get off take up your bed and walk and at once the man was healed and took up his bed and walked now that day was the sabbath so the jews said to the man who had been healed it is the sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed but the man answered them but the man who healed me that man said to me take up your bed and walk they asked him who is the man who said to you take up your bed and walk now the man who had been healed did not know who it was for jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place afterwards jesus found him in the temple and said to him see you are well sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you the man went away and told the jews that it was jesus who had healed him and this was why the jews were persecuting jesus because he was doing these things on the sabbath but jesus answered them my father is working until now and i am working this was why the jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the sabbath but he was even calling god his own father making himself equal with god as i said it's already beginning to be a bit of an angry chapter and what we're looking at is a completely different kind of healing story jesus is surrounded in the synoptic gospels matthew mark and luke and in john's gospel with crowds seeking healing and that healing is given whenever they come and he's able to heal them but the stories we've had so far always mention the faith and the belief of the one being healed and also the expectation of healing um one thinks uh if you go back to saint mark's gospel of the blind man bartimaeus who comes to jesus saying lord that i might receive my sight and then afterwards he follows jesus on the way well this story is quite different for jesus in the middle of a huge crowd of people and as much noise around as there is here with the excitement of breakfast being here and us being here in this place where uh normally there's complete quiet and uh they're settling down now after their breakfast but that turmoil was all around jesus and he notices the man lying there who had been there for a long time perhaps he'd asked someone how how long has this man been here in fact we're given that the number of years 38 years was lying on his bed or his mat as some uh translations say uh but he was actually lying by the side of the pool someone must have brought him that there was no way he could have got that um and uh and carried his mat and set that out someone must have brought him there and at the same time jesus says to him looking at him now this is the extraordinary sentence do you want to be healed that's a really telling sentence for someone who has been used to that rhythm of life with a condition that was not life-threatening but marked them in a particular way and that question do you want to be healed and the man doesn't say yes and nor at any time does jesus say anything about the man's face he simply looks at him and says get up rise up take your bed and go go home in effect and the man with jesus authority uh does just that in answer to jesus's question do you want to be healed the man doesn't say yes he says well i've got nobody to put me in the water when the angel stares the water and always somebody else gets there first and it's it's a sort of oblique answer so i've got no friends and yet someone has brought in there and someone always gets there before me and i mean these sentences are very human sentences but there's almost a fear in him of something happening which will disturb his life and we're looking at a very different kind of healing story jesus does heal him but there is no gratitude and there is only the walking away and the carrying of his bed and it's the sabbath well we know that jesus himself believes that his father works on the sabbath all things of creation are working on the sabbath and that healing is a good thing a good gift to some to give to someone in the sabbath at the same time the man has risen up as we saw yesterday in that story from sin luke about the calling of levi levi rose up to follow him but jesus has said to levi follow me that's one kind of call the other which happens so often in the healing narratives is that jesus doesn't say follow me but go home sort of begin your life again receive this gift of healing and go home and at that point maybe they can take up their life again where it left off think of the jerusalem demoniac when he heals him and the man begs to go with jesus but he says no go home and let the people know all the things that god has done for you and we've seen that with the healing narratives of the um royal official which we did on saturday and also we've seen it not with healing but with the the sense of a new life being given where the woman of samaria at the well becomes a mishna of the evangel a carrier of the gospel of the good news and begins to tell her neighbors just as the royal official told all his households and they believed there's there's none of that in this story and we've got tiger outside here sorry we'll follow with breakfast later i don't think you want to be in here tiger but don't worry we haven't forgotten you um and as that's all happening the man goes off and what does he do first of all the pharisees and the jewish authorities says why are you carrying your mass it's the sabbath and he says well the man who healed me told me to carry it so who was that i don't know there's no consciousness of of what has happened don't know and then later jesus finds the man in the temple where he can go now as a fully walking person and he says to him see you've been healed sin no more and that sin is uncounted it might mean the sin of not receiving the gift of wellness so that life can continue it might mean that there's a sin of ingratitude to god there's certainly no mention at any time of faith and belief instead the man realizes it's jesus and what does he do he instantly goes and tells on jesus to the authorities it wasn't me that carried my bed on the sabbath it was that man there who told me to carry the bed on the sabbath not me but him passing on the information is a very different kind of story but at the same time jesus is used to this and it evokes in the pharisees jealousy and controversy and violence in their hearts by the time we get to the end of the passage that we've just read they are talking about the killing of jesus i told you this was an angry chapter and we've we've stumbled on it fairly quickly and this man has had nothing but good done to him by jesus after 38 years of infirmity and the rhythm of his ordinary life can be taken up but instead he has risen up to go and tell the authorities that jesus is to blame for the breaking of the sabbath law and when they question jesus he once again says this is a nice sight ducky isn't it he once again says um but my father works and so do i and so um this we are going to give around a bit more yeah come on russell you're gonna have some more here we are it's breakfast time not for tiger quite yet all these things of the way in which our humankind different people react in different ways are there passing the blame he told me to carry my bed and at the same time then reporting jesus to the jews he's the one who's always breaking the law and this is a response of someone who has been healed unnamed once again and maybe a representative of one type of person because there's such a diversity of the way in which gifts are received and sometimes you will find that something that you have done to someone maybe for many years is suddenly thrown back in your face and that seems to be the kind of aspect of our humanity which can turn sour and that itself then needs healing and jesus is saying sin no more there's something worse happen and i believe he's talking about that kind of sin the the souring of this man's uh personality and his unwillingness to take the gift of taking up his life once again and going on instead there's blame being cast around and he's almost looking back because he he has never said he wanted to be made well but jesus has said rise up and we then then think of those two ways of of going again of how jesus says to some follow me and to others no take the gift and go home and you be the one who carries the good news well there's not much good news in the heart of this man and uh i'm sorry that we have to to say it in this angry chapter but it gets angrier as it goes on and for the moment the pharisees are counting up the charges that they've got against jesus he's causing people to break the law he's causing people to sin on the sabbath he's actually blaspheming by calling god his father and at the same time he is causing people once again to think that even the creator breaks the law by working on the sabbath and jesus is of course looking around at everything that's going on every second of every day as the creator works and holds creation in metaphorically in his hands and has now sent in human form his son to be with them that is what the the rest of the chapter will be facing the controversy about how that gift is being received with some it's received with open arms with some the gift of healing with some the gift of the good news goes off and at the same time goes to to to to be at a new venture in their life so all of all of these things now we're thinking of the diversity of the people who have been healed and what they do with the gift of healing and we remember the woman at the well and we remember levi and at the same time russell come here russell russell russell russell come here hey russell come here come on um at the same time we remember how people can be transformed and i was thinking this morning of dickens novel which i've always said is a great parable a tale of two cities and i think that the person in that story who is the great hero is dr minet who when we meet him first has been in the bastille prison for i think 18 years and when people ask him who he is he says 105 north tower before he had been a fashionable and wonderful doctor after 18 years in that prison he is simply in his own mind 105 north tower and he has wild away the time in there uh cobbling shoes and he has his his uh tools to make shoes in that way and the prisoner 105 north tower now in the default shop is making tools and when his daughter lucy comes to find him and bring him home then those tools come with him and he becomes once again with the love of lucy back in london the other city paris one city and london the other the tale of two cities he becomes the dr minet that they all knew until the moment when charles dani the night before the wedding to his daughter says i must confess to you that i am now the marquis de santiagramont i was the heir of the man who did all this to you and it tips my net back into the state of darkness that he knew before and through the bedroom door they begin to hear the sounds of the cobbler's tools being exercised again by prisoner 105 north tower it's a terrible thing the healing is restored again by compassion and love but that healing is a great gift for someone to take up their life again and yet that compassion and that love has to continue how many things people suffer takes us back to the ukraine before their their spirit breaks and then so much more than simply food and rest is needed it's needing years of comfort and recovery and help and we go to the way in which uh millie night in the paralympics was helped by the sports psychologist uh kelly fay to be rebuilt not just in in uh body but in mind and spirit as well all of this we give thanks for in the diversity of people being healed as i think of of of dr manette i want to think also of somebody that we missed on the 5th of march and he was born in ukraine but he was born in 1891 and ukraine was then very much part of the empire of the tsar alexander the third i'm talking about sergey prokofiev the composer and prokofiev lived out the part of the first part of his life in this way but became a really talented not only composer but pianist conductor musician and at the russian revolution in 1918 went across the atlantic uh to to begin with san francisco and then began to make his name as a composer and a a pianist and a concert performer and at that time um he he gave to the world so many gifts of music we think of his ballet romeo and juliet with that marvelous march of the nights the dance of the night and everyone stamps their feet almost with the rhythm of that wonderful peace [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Music] so [Applause] [Music] and at the same time at school i remember hearing lieutenant kishay which is a sort of narrative that people like to listen to well the most popular thing he ever wrote which was written i think probably with his own children in mind and certainly with children in mind when he finally took the gift of his musician musicianship back home and went to live in moscow now uh a part of the soviet union at that time but he was welcomed with open arms as a composer at that time and he wrote something which is his most popular piece peter and the wolf we all know it and we have it played to us at school and uh it's too long to put on in our reflection but our king school have done it with a wonderful narration and that will follow the blessing today it's about 25 minutes long but it's a wonderful story and the instruments of the orchestra are telling you of the diversity of characters and it was that actually which caused us to come in here today because one of those characters is the duck yeah she frightened you didn't she and at that time um uh prokofiev uh achieved something which was instantly popular and the story of uh the narrative there is a story of and you will remember peter a young boy going from his grandfather's house on a nice morning opening the garden gate leaving it open and going out into the meadows beyond and as he does so peter's theme is played by the strings of the orchestra and you'll hear that if you play the whole thing at the end and he's left the garden gate open so the duck yeah ducky is here by me the duck oh it's sunshine ducky that's nice um the duck follows him out of the garden gate into the dangerous place where there is danger all around and a bird now the duck is represented by the oboe the instrument the oboe and uh then and you can again hear that if you go so we've got the different instruments of the orchestra and the diversity of the creatures that are beer and the humans that are being shown a bird flies down represented by the flute and the duck and the bird have a bit of a quarrel saying uh the birds saying a bird shouldn't be swimming and the duck saying well a bird shouldn't be flying and they quarrel about whether it's the best thing to swim or to fly but then the cat appears and the cat sinuous and targets around somewhere but the cat is represented by the clarinet and both the duck and the bird feel in danger by the the cat so what happens the bird flies up into a tall tree and the duck swims out into the middle of the pond and um it's the word cat that's made uh ducky like that i'm sure seems out into the middle of the pond is then safe from the cat because the last thing a cat will want to do is to get into water and so those instruments the strings the oboe the flute the caronet which represents the cat are representing all things and then grandfather comes out and shouts at peter uh come back in grandfather is represented by the bassoon come back into the safety there is a wolf out there and a wolf is a danger to human beings and the wolf is represented by three french horns and then you you always know the creatures because of the tunes that are played for them and then after that there are hunters too who are chasing the wolf and the hunters then capture the wolf and rope him and and peter is the one who actually rescues the wolf so the hunters are represented by trumpets and and drums but they're not allowed to shoot the wolf in the story the wolf swallows the dark sadly but actually this is this is a children's tale and the duck is still alive in the wolf's tummy rather like granny and red riding hood and you hear right at the end the narrator says but what tune can you hear coming from the wolf's tummy and at the same time you get all of those things now i i say this not only because it's a wonderful tale and it's one of prokofiev's most humorous and unloved years but it's talking about the diversity of people and the diversity of creatures and humankind relating to creatures and the being of danger everywhere and saving one another from danger and we've come to give a little cheer today to this space where the little group of folk are incarcerated for the moment and on their own lockdown and i hope russell you're glad of our visit this morning he's always is always a bit doubtful so let's give thanks for the way in which we can have compassion with one another we can build one another up after crises disasters and hurt and we can exercise forgiveness but at the same time we can find within us our own selves and let me speak for myself i know fletcher will speak for himself because every human being would and say there is meanness in us which can break out in certain situations and that we have to guard against by grace we shall go on with the anger the angry chapter tomorrow chapter five but for the moment let's say our prayers on on this first ordinary working day of uh lent of the first week in lent and we're praying this morning in the anglican communion for the diocese of kigami we're still in the french-speaking igles anglican rwanda the church in rwanda and we pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for emma bishop at lambest and today we're praying for the parishes of the maidstone area deanery that's all the communities and villages around maidstone and the interim area dean is phil goody and we pray for that ministry there and the school that we're praying for is saint augustine's academy so let's do bring your own prayers and of course all of us together are burning with with uh shall we say the desire to pray for ukraine as well here is the collect for today almighty god you show to those who are in error the light of your truth that they may return to the way of righteousness grant to all those who are admitted into the fellowship of christ's religion that they may reject those things that are contrary to their profession and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same through our lord and savior jesus christ amen and the colic for each day of lent almighty 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 together in our own way on our own languages 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 for our prayers and our reflections yep [Laughter] um [Laughter] oh uh oh so ah oh christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourself 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 should have said that this this lovely emma bridgewater mug is uh how ducky was when we hatched her and she was a lovely little yellow duckling and now she's a lovely pure white uh duck and she is actually in a strange way a catalyst for peace amongst the very different creatures here she and russell get on really really well and she's just a tranquil kind of presence in all of this because um as you see after breakfast time there's there's quite a bit of teasing that goes on but everything is is as as quiet as can be and uh it's probably better than when humankind are locked in together in a particular place like this but let's think how our psalmist said this morning in that sentence you lord will save both man and beast i'd rather have the word creatures than beasts and one remembers that when jesus was in the wilderness at the time of temptations which we think of in this part of lent then he was with the wild creatures and angels ministered to him as well as the the temptations being put into him by satan himself so enjoy the day this working day and may bless may god bless you and keep your prayers bright uh and strong for the people of ukraine and all caught up in that terrible war at present early one morning peter opened the gate and went out into the big green meadow [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] on a branch of a big tree sat a little bird peter's friend all is quiet all is quiet said the bird gaily [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yes all is quiet [Music] [Applause] wow [Music] [Music] just then a duck came waddling around she was glad that peter hadn't closed the gate and she decided to take a nice swim in the deep round pond in the meadows [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] seeing the duck the little bird flew down upon the grass settled next to her and shrugged his shoulders [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] kind of bird are you if you can't fly he said to this the duck replied what kind of bird are you if you can't swim and dived into the pond [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] they argued and argued the duck swimming in the pond the little bird hopping along the shore [Music] suddenly suddenly something caught peter's attention it was a cat crawling through the grass [Music] oh [Music] the cat thought the bird is busy arguing i'll just grab him stealthily she crept towards him on her velvet paws [Music] look out shouted peter and the bird immediately flew up into the [Music] angrily at the cat [Music] from the middle of the pond [Music] the cats crawled round the tree and thought hmm is it worth climbing up so high by the time i get there the bird will have flown away [Music] just then grandfather came out he was angry because peter had gone into the meadow it is a dangerous place if a wolf should come out of the forest then what would you do [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] but peter paid no attention to his grandfather's words boys like peter aren't afraid of wolves [Music] [Music] but grandfather took peter by the hand locked the gate and led him home [Music] uh [Applause] [Music] no sooner had peter gone then a big grey woof came out of the forest [Music] [Music] so [Music] meow in a twinkling the cat was off the tree huh [Music] uh [Music] the duck quacked and in her excitement jumped out of the pond [Music] but no matter how hard the duck tried to run she couldn't escape the wolf [Music] [Applause] he was getting nearer engineer catching up with her [Music] and then he got her and with one gulp he swallowed her [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and now this is how things stood the cat was sitting on one branch [Music] the bird on the other not too close to the cat [Music] hmm [Music] and the wolf walked round and round the tree looking up at them with greedy eyes [Music] so so [Music] in the meantime peter without the slightest fear stood behind the closed gate all that was going on [Music] he ran home took a strong rope and climbed up the high stone wall [Music] one of the branches of the trees around which the wolf was walking stretched out over the wall [Music] grabbing hold of the branch [Music] peter lightly climbed over onto the tree [Music] peter said to the bird fly down and circle round the wolf's head only take care he doesn't catch you [Applause] [Music] bye [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the bird almost touched the wolf's head with his wings while the wolf snapped angrily from them at this site and that [Applause] how the bird teased the wolf how the wolf wanted to catch him but the bird was clever and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it [Music] meanwhile peter made a lasso and carefully letting it down i'm down [Music] [Applause] [Music] caught the wolf by the tail and pulled with all his might [Music] feeling himself caught the wolf began to jump wildly trying to get loose [Music] [Music] but peter tied the other end of the rope to the tree and the wolf's jumping only made the rope around his tail tighter and tighter [Music] [Music] [Music] just then the hunters came out of the woods following the wolf's trail and shooting as they went [Music] [Applause] [Music] bye [Music] [Music] [Music] but peter sitting in the tree said oh no don't shoot birdie and i have already caught the wolf help us take him to the zoo [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] now just imagine [Music] just imagine the triumphant procession [Music] picture ahead [Music] so so [Music] after him the hunters leading the wolf [Music] [Music] now [Music] so [Music] and winding up the procession came grandfather and the cat grandfather shook his head discontentedly well he said and if peter hadn't caught wolf what then [Music] so [Music] oh foreign above them blue birdie chirping merrily my what brave fellows we are peter and i look what we have caught [Music] [Music] and if one would listen very carefully one could hear the duck quacking in the wolf's belly because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you you