good morning and welcome on this october the 10th saturday october the 10th as we gather very early in the morning the sun has hardly touched the top of the bell harry tower but it's going to be a most beautiful day here in canterbury and as usual on saturday mornings we've come to be with the animals here and when we get to psalm 50 then you'll you'll see how apt all that is but we thought that we'd let you enjoy what we enjoy each morning the animals coming out to have their breakfast and it will be a bit noisy and chaotic but before we say our prayers and let it settle down then uh let's uh let's give them their breakfast and and see how we go i'll spread some around and see how we go and i think we'll have quite a little put it on the floor here's winston first because he roams around at night to uh protect everyone from foxes not that the foxes can get at them because they're all locked away in their homes but now we're going to just make this important moment of the morning which everyone looks forward to that's breakfast and we let the noises speak for themselves uh as the gates opened and off they go just wait for them to come in silence already the moment food is seen and then the feathered friends which psalm 50 will really speak about here they come all of them racing around to join in the fun i want you to say this morning before we even begin that all this excitement is wonderful but this is also the day when we are keeping world homelessness day and also world mental health awareness day we have all been wearing purple for porch light and you may have seen on our website or even on news agencies on social media the fact that our choir have sung both boys and girls have sung wearing their purple classics for awareness for porchlight which is kent's largest homeless charity and i'm proud to be a patron of it but also the two days are so linked at this time because mental health has become a much much greater problem with the loneliness of lockdown and the taking away of the rhythms of the day and also the fear which is inherent when jobs are at risk and there is a sense of whenever is this going to end so all that is a background to our prayers i want to say also that that we're looking at the the creatures of the world here that it's a very well known fact that the um company of a of a dog or a cat or even a bird in in when someone is living alone and the rhythms of the day have gone can give comfort and and solace uh to those who are simply lonely or those with mental health problems it seems that that just holding the cat on the lap in a a care home where sometimes the cats are a part of the life there i've seen that often or stroking a dog or in better days having a dog just wake you up and make you go out and have the fresh air and people talk to you because of knowing the dog as well so all those things on this hugely important day as we say our prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made and as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you 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 are men as i've said our son this morning on this 10th morning of the month is psalm 50 and i'm reading some verses of that now the lord the most mighty god has spoken and called the world from the rising of the sun to its setting out of zion perfect in beauty god shines forth our god comes and will not keep silence consuming fire goes before him a mighty tempest stirs about him he calls the heaven above and the earth that he may judge his people gather to me my faithful who have sealed my covenant with sacrifice let the heavens declare his righteousness for god himself is judge hear o my people and i will speak i will testify against you o israel for i am god your god i will not reprove you for your sacrifices for your burnt offerings are always before me but i will take no bull out of your house nor he goes out of your foes for all the beasts of the forest are mine the cattle on a thousand hills i know every bird of the mountains even the insect of the field is mine so if i were hungry i would not tell you for the whole world is mine and all that fills it do you think i eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats offer to god a sacrifice of thanksgiving and fulfill your vows to god most high call upon me in the day of trouble i will deliver you and you shall honor me whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me and to those who keep my way when i show the salvation of god well on a morning like this it's hard not to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving but sacrifice means the giving of oneself something that is costly we tend to think of sacrifices in terms of the ancient event offerings but there are sacrifices going on all day long with people who give of themselves in fighting this pandemic in caring for the welfare of the homeless and of those in any kind of mental distress so to be aware of those things is the first step and to contribute out of one's own resources to that also becomes a crucial activity and that's why this is so important this day this world day of mental health awareness and of homelessness let's remember also that not only these creatures in this beautiful morning and the life of the trees as they begin to drop their leaves for autumn is important but also our cheering of each other i didn't begin this morning with dates because i wanted to stress that enormous importance of world homelessness day and world mental health awareness day but we could look at what had happened on october the 10th before we turn to the acts of the apostles and perhaps one of the most important things to remember at this time is that this was a day in 2013 when there was a discovery of the first chemical to prevent the death of brain tissue in a neurogenerative disease and it was hailed as a turning point in discovery of medicines to control and prevent alzheimer's there's an awful lot of research that needs to go on following that discovery but it's been hailed as the significant turning point and we pray that it it will be and at the same time we remember people who have given of themselves at a very costly way to their their own dignity and their own resources we remember in 1903 on this day emmeline pancast formed the women's social and political union to fight for women's emancipation in this nation remember also times of violence and times of creativity as we always do in 1980 the conservative party conference was meeting in brighton and there was an enormous bomb placed in the hotel in which the prime minister members of the cabinet and people were staying and those of you who are old enough will remember the horror of that day and the scenes following that huge explosion it was very near the room that the prime minister was staying in at the time but she margaret thatcher was unharmed and despite the enormous shock you remember that she arrived on the the platform of the party conference the next day and spoke about terrorism and said this is the morning i wasn't meant to see but she was a a feisty lady whatever one thought of her policies and this was also the occasion when she made that very memorable speech you turn if you want the ladies not for turning well that was a a sign of her particular character it seems an awful long time ago now and one remembers also on this day uh a bit later that uh she was going around the the uh um little stands at an exhibition and there was a british airways flight which had lost its union jack on the tail fin and had different designs and lord king said what do you think of the new designs and she took the handkerchief from her pocket and put it over it and said well that's rather better she was a lady of strong opinions well let's uh let's remember all those things but a long time ago now we pray for politicians who are having to make very different decisions at this time of pandemic and we give thanks for things which are able to cheer us up and also make us go forward um this was the day in 1881 that the savoy theatre was opened and it was the first public building played the home of of gilbert and sullivan operas afterwards but uh richard dawley cars who who built this was very proud of it and it was the first public building to be lit with electricity everyone was right to death of electricity and they thought that if a bulb smashed the whole place would catch fire and so mr dory cart went on stage first with a long lead in his evening dress and a light bulb on the end of it and one of the attendants also in white iron tails with a velvet cushion and a hammer on it and he smashed the the lit electric bulb in front of them all and everyone everyone was completely shocked great screaming and of course nothing happened because if you smash an electric light bulb you just lose the light and there are the remains interesting to think of all that now now the bell is going for the early communion and that's a nice thought because the cathedral bell is going for the early communion as we continue to to film morning prayer here later on in an hour's time morning prayer will happen in the cathedral too when the bell was sound um so here we are in the garden on this october the 10th and we give thanks on this day in our calendar the the christian calendar for both paulinus of york who was the first archbishop of york and belonged to the second group of people that gregory the great sent after augustine to england for the english mission and paulinus went up to northumbria after being here to begin the mission there but after a while he did return to rochester he was given the pallium as the first archbishop of york but came back to be bishop of rochester and was buried there and his shrine was there so we give thanks for him you'll notice if you have a calendar that thomas trahan is also mentioned on this day but remember we thought about him with our reflection on september the 27th so if you want to go back to centuries of meditation and the beautiful glass which is found by tom denney in hereford cathedral remembering trahan you can click back to on youtube to morning prayer on the 27th of september here at canterbury cathedral and find our tribute to thomas trahan but let's turn for the moment to the acts of the apostles and we are finding saint paul standing now in front of a completely different roman governor for felix has gone and he's been summoned back to rome as we saw yesterday and he and his wife priscilla have gone there uh drusilla it's interesting to know we've got a little piglet trying to get up on the on the tea tree i think a jump like that would be hopeless you'd better go back little boy um drusilla had gone back to rome it's interesting to think that druzilla actually perished later on many years later on with the the uh the eruption of vesuvius in pompeii the records tell us that that's what happened but meanwhile festus is here who knows much much less about the jewish scene felix having a jewish wife who was the daughter of herod agrippa the the first knew the jewish scene festus didn't and so something happens in our lesson today which will help him i'm starting at verse 13 of chapter 25. now when some days had passed agrippa the king and bernice arrived at caesarea and greeted festus and as they stayed there many days festus laid paul's case before the king saying there is a man left prisoner by felix and when i was at jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the jews laid out their case against him asking for a sentence of condemnation against him i answered them that it was not the custom of the romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had the opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him so when they came together here i made no delay but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought when the accusers stood up they brought no charge in his case of such evils as i supposed rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain jesus who was dead but whom paul asserted to be alive being at a loss how to investigate these questions i asked whether he wanted to go to jerusalem and be tried there regarding them but when paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor i ordered him to be held until i could send him to the emperor then king agrippa said to festus i would like to hear the man myself tomorrow said festus you will hear him so on the next day king agrippa and bernice came with great pomp and they entered the the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city and then at the command of festus paul was brought in and festus said king agrippa and all who are present with us you see this man about whom the whole jewish people petitioned me both in jerusalem and here shouting that he ought to live and not to live any longer but i found that he had done nothing deserving death and as he himself appealed to the emperor i decided to go ahead and send him but i have nothing definite to write to my lord about him therefore i have brought him before you and especially before you king agrippa said that after we have examined him i may have something to write for it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner not to indicate the charges against him well quite a scene set it reminds me that this also was the day that giuseppe verdi was born and there this this set that we're seeing of the royal family surrounded by trumpeters and and all the pomp entering the stadium with the roman governor is like the beginning of a verdi opera so many operas of that kind but if you think of aida with the grand march and all of that well we're in that kind of scene and paul is going to be brought he's certainly not going to be phased but the scene has been set let's think about this royal family who now make their appearance this is king agrippa the second and he is a strange hybrid if you like not in birth he is the great grandson of head of the great and the son of king agrippa the first all of that and he's come in with his sister bernice and so here is an entry of the jewish royal family the last prince of the herodian line as it will happen but at the same time he had been brought up as a boy in rome not in judea and when his father died at the and he was 17 years old he was there in rome and the emperor claudius who was a great friend of his decided to keep him there and so his royal position was assured but he was very much a roman in his upbringing and conversant with the the greek culture of the the eastern mediterranean a very different prospect to the jewish nation that he looked after a different prospect from the high priests who had made the accusations against paul so though agrippa had his palace in jerusalem and tried desperately by all the buildings that he put up to to give a quality to his kingdom but he could never win the hearts of his people and here they come and they sit down and poor festus who is at a loss to know what to do he was only the governor for a short time between 59 and 62 the years 59 and 62 he died in office of a sickness and at the moment here he is in the full pomp and ceremony of the roman governors court and the royal family and he's a little bit nervous of all that's going on because he must know that king agrippa is an enormous friend not only of claudius who is now passed on but of nero too and and uh nero is now the emperor in rome and he and agrippa are tremendous friends so all the way through agrippa is going to be supporting festus's desire to keep the roman order going on and that's what's going to happen paul has now had the scene set for him to speak and on monday we shall hear his speech but let's remember this uh this king agrippa and and just follow him on um because he is about to face a huge challenge the the the assassins who will kill the high priest and the zealots and everyone else are stirring and fermenting a disorder against the imperial rule and in the year 66 the first jewish war against the romans begins and agrippa sends an army to side with vespasian and titus with rome and at the destruction of jerusalem the king is actually on the side of the romans and eventually he and bernice his sister go back to rome and he dies there much later he was made a prietor he was deeply honoured and still seen as the king but died without an heir and so that was the end of the royal line and that royal line of course is best represented by king herod who is the herod at the beginning of luke's gospel herod the great who was seen um as a character so to speak in matthew's gospel when the magi come to seek the king i've done all that simply because that sets the political scene and it dates what paul is doing absolutely into the governorship of festus but jerusalem itself now has been left behind paul's vocation is now going to be in rome as we shall see jerusalem will be in turmoil in the year 70 the temple will be completely destroyed there will be enormous bloodshed terrible things will happen and really that marks the the end of temple worship and all of that is is a a catastrophic event but at that time also james the the just the brother of our lord uh perishes is martyred there and i said earlier that sacrifice comes in many ways but the jerusalem church really suffered nevertheless luke's story takes us on with paul to rome and tomorrow i mean on monday we shall hear the defense that paul gives before king agrippa well today i i said there were other dates that we might remember and we showed the pomp and ceremony of herod agrippa but there are there are icons of of different cities and this was a day in 1999 when thousands gathered in london to see the great millennium wheel which was going to be temporarily there for the millennium and at that time uh everyone thought this was a novelty they had no idea what a sign and symbol of the city of london that that would become because now it will be unthinkable on new year's eve not to have the fireworks for a new year around that millennium wheel and it's hard to think back to 1999 that was before 9 11 and all of that our hopes for a new millennium and one remembers john taverner's anthem which was sung in the millennium dome which said and from now on a new beginning there were so many hopes but hopes can be dashed and one has to start again with a sacrifice of thanksgiving each day and our intention to make this world a better place so on this world homelessness jane and world's mental health awareness day we remember our intention as we make a sacrifice of thanksgiving with our morning prayers this morning and we see how the world empires rise and fall we see the roman governor in in caesarea with the same kind of problems and wanting to make right decisions and good decisions for of all the procurators festus was probably one of the best in terms of his character but he was short-lived and all of that passes nevertheless each new day dawns and we have a home our planet to look after and each other to care for as we say our prayers on this particular morning so let's say our prayer for this week and let's see also whom we are asked to pray for as well as the themes that i have given in the anglican communion we remember the diocese of port moresby in papua new guinea and danny braguca the bishop there and his people the diocese of colombia in the episcopal church of the united states and francisco duque the bishop and his people and the diocese of column kotarakara in south india and umen george the bishop there and his people and in this diocese we continue to give thanks for and pray for the area of sanit deanery and pray for today all the chaplains who exercise at chaplaincy ministry particularly within schools and residential care communities community clubs health groups all things which build up our community and give hope and strength give thanks for that self-sacrificing ministry there in the towns of broad stairs and ramsgate and margate and the villages in that area which i've listed day by day called now seamash as a group but on the coast the very coast that augustine and paulinus arrived at so let's say today's prayer as we remember justin our archbishop and in this diocese rose bishop of dover and tim bishop at lambeth and you bring your intentions from wherever you are in the world almighty god you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face 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 of power and the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence now for our own prayers [Music] the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and if 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 those whom you would pray for today and always amen right [Music]