good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this thursday the 3rd of september as we say our morning prayers here under a cloudy sky but there's a little partition in the clouds now with some blue sky breaking through wherever you are in the world feel welcome and bring your own concerns we normally look at one or two other years in which september the third has been significant in the year 301 the little nation of san marino was founded it's one of the smallest nations in the world and the longest republic and we pray for the um people of that oldest republic in the world today in 1189 richard the first was crowned we remember him yesterday because he had signed an agreement with saladin and the treaty allowed christian pilgrims to go and worship and be ministered to by a small team of christian priests in jerusalem itself so we think of that agreement as we think of two other agreements paris agreements one in 1783 which ended the american revolutionary war and really created what we now know as the united states of america an agreement between britain and america and also that the second treaty of paris which was ratified throughout the year 2016 but everything began in april with 194 nations ratifying their agreement on the international agreement for climate change we happened to be in the united nations that day with two friends of ours which my companion had arranged amir and tas dossel of the global partnership forum and had a meeting with ban ki-moon on that day and just after that in the dining room the news began to get around that agreement had been reached on the climate change and that was very exciting for all the ambassadors to the united nations president now the significance of september the third is that on this day the united states of america and china ratified the agreement in 2016 and then we come to probably the the biggest september the third of all because on this day of course in 1939 the united kingdom and france australia new zealand the viceroy of india that time speaking for india declared war on germany and that presage the beginning of the second world war canada joined seven days later and then the whole thing began to escalate because of that this nation was preparing for war so there are all kinds of things which happened today like the founding of the citizens advice bureau to help people understand the rules during that national crisis and international crisis and it's very similar to what the governments of the world are having to do today to help people understand the rules to contain this pandemic this is also a merchant navy day and the red end sign will fly on many civic buildings and so i think two in australia and new zealand and uh canada and we give thanks for the work of the merchant navy particularly in dangerous times king george v honored them in 1928 by confirming the title merchant navy and also in 1976 then out of this world viking 2 landed on mars in a voyage of exploration but perhaps the most important event for our calendar is that this is the day when we remember pope saint gregory the great whose vision sent augustine to england on a mission expedition we shall actually look at that in our reflection but let's begin our prayers o 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 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 oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this third morning of the month is psalm 15 lord who may dwell in your tabernacle who may rest upon your holy hill whoever leads an uncorrupt life and does the thing that is right who speaks the truth from the heart and bears no deceit on the tongue who does no evil to a friend and pours no scorn on a neighbor in whose sight the wicked are not esteemed but who honors those who fear the lord whoever has sworn to a neighbor and never goes back on that word who does not lend money in hope of gain nor takes a bribe against the innocent whoever does these things shall never fall so we turn to our lesson from the acts of the apostles and we are taken by luke from saul to peter as we read from verse 32 of chapter nine now as peter went here and there among them all he came down also to the saints who lived at lidda there he found a man named aeneas bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed and peter said to him aeneas jesus christ heals you rise and make your bed and immediately he rose and all the residents of lidda and sharon saw him and they turned to the lord now there was in joppa a disciple named tabitha which translated means dorcas she was full of good works and acts of charity in those days she became ill and died and when they had washed her they laid her in an upper room since lidder was near joppa the disciples hearing that peter was there sent two men to him urging him please come to see us without delay so peter rose and went with them and when he arrived they took him to the upper room all the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that dorcas made while she was with them but peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said tabitha arise and she opened her eyes and when she saw peter she sat up then calling the saints and widows peter presented her alive and it became known throughout all joppa and many believed in the lord and he stayed in joppa for many days with one simon the tanner this is a different type of story from what we've been reading with the road to damascus the ravaging of the church but you remember how yesterday there was a little sentence saying the church in galilee and samaria and judea had peace [Music] these are the years when saul is working the other side of the jordan but here is peter venturing out from jerusalem to different lands and yet luke takes us back to gospel words the the greek word eganato which starts this passage used to be translated in the king james version and it came to pass that all that covered by that word a favorite word of luke's he begins his gospel with that word after the little preface explaining why he's writing a gospel to theophilus ordering all the facts so that theophilus will understand and then in verse five of chapter one of luke's gospel and it came to pass that in those days and the story begins and then again in verse 8 and it came to pass that as zechariah stood at the altar and so on i think luke is consciously taking us back to a gospel narrative for that narrative of the works of jesus in the gospel through so many scenes and different situations is now continued by the body of christ and by peter his rock who has now ventured beyond jerusalem and through samaria to joppa and lidda and is beginning to do the things which jesus himself had given to the twelve as their commission their own messiahship if you like the messiahship of the living and incarnate body of christ in human flesh and blood now he comes to the saints the the brothers and sisters of the way as they're being called and here he's taken first to a man paralyzed aeneas his name and he says to him again the name of jesus and the power to rise and what he says also reminds us of certain things the word that he says to um aeneas is translated make your bed it could also be used for set your meal furnish this because it's the word used when jesus says to the two disciples go and find an upper room and you will find it furnished ready for our supper there are all these inferences back to the gospel to connect through that the work is still rooted in that gospel and proceeding let's go on to tabitha dorcas daucus means gazelle lovely translation but um when he comes to dorcas how like luke's telling of the story of the raising of the daughter of jairus this all is peter comes up and finds them grieving and sorrowing and he puts them all outside that happened at the raising of jairus's daughter and then he prays but he does another lucan thing for in the garden of gethsemane when jesus prays luke says he knelt down as peter does here kneels down and prays and says tabitha arise so like talitha kumai as the aramaic words that jesus says to jairus's daughter tabitha arise and she got up and at that point there is this sense of peter showing her to the brothers and sisters almost as a sense of this gospel story is continuing we give thanks for that little group of early brothers and sisters but let's remember one other thing the word disciple is never used beyond the acts of the apostles it doesn't appear anywhere else other than in the gospels and the acts of the apostles but this in the greek for darkest a disciple is the only time it's used in the feminine form so that something very new is happening here and thanks be to god for that from then on they're not disciples they become the body of christ and they themselves are effecting the gospel well let's go now to the other main event of today the feast day of saint gregory the great he brought up as a roman aristocrat in public service he tried monastic life but went back to public service from the family home his father had been a senator there and then eventually he himself felt the call to christian ministry and his family home becomes the monastery that it still is san gregorio alcelo there he named it after saint andrew but it now takes his name on the trailion hill in rome and august um uh gregory had the thought because he had met in the slave market a slaver who was selling two fair had children from the pagan lands of of uh britain at that time and augustine do you remember in traditionally it's meant to have said who are these and uh he says they are angles and uh augustine uh sorry gregory says in his in his reply they're not angles they're angels known angli said angeli and determines that he will make christian this land there are two latin tags that we remember from sin augustine those words i've just spoken but then he's set off to evangelize the land of the angles and bring the gospel to the english but going along the road as he was opening his bravery to say prayers on the roadside a locust landed on his bravery and he said lo custer a locust in latin or in his ears as he heard himself say it locos star stay in this place and he did and an hour later a messenger came bringing him back to rome where in 590 he was consecrated as bishop of rome pope and later saint gregory the great we remember him for all kinds of things his latin scholarship his commentaries on the books of the scriptures particularly the book of job his letters and also his interest in liturgy the gregorian chant bears his name but he never came to england his vision instead sent augustine and augustine set out and came here seven years after gregory's consecration we've already looked at the story of central augustine and we know that the gospels that he brought as a gift from gregory are still very much in existence to swear our ozone to this place illustrated with the figure of saint luke still looking pristine in its pages so let's give thanks for the the missionary work of the church as peter crosses boundaries and carries on the mission of the servant of the lord the christ which he had been charged with by jesus himself let's give thanks for the writings of luke and the writings of gregory which anchor us in the gospel story day by day but have crossed world boundaries and let's remember those two treaties of paris especially the one for the international agreement on climate change so necessary to us in our world at this time let us some then say our prayers this morning for areas of the world and in the anglican communion today we're remembering the diocese of bermoza in nigeria and titus olayinka and the diocese of caledonia in canada and the bishop there david lehmann and his people and the diocese of calgary in canada and gregory kerr wilson the bishop there and his people in this diocese as we remember justin our archbishop and rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth we are continuing to pray for the canterbury area deanery that's the parishes around the cathedral in the city of canterbury in the countryside roundabout today we're praying for all clergy with permission to help in those parishes and we give thanks for them there's names far too many to mention but we ask god's blessing on them we also ask god's blessing on the life of our world at this time for all those who face danger bringing resources to others as we keep this merchant navy day and also for all nations attempting to combat the pandemic as we remember the the preparations made for nations safety at the beginning of the second world war which began on this day in 1939 so let's say the prayer force in gregory as we bring our own concerns today merciful father who chose your bishop gregory to be a servant of the servants of god grant that like him we may ever long to serve you by proclaiming your gospel to the nations and may ever rejoice to sing your praises through jesus christ our lord amen so we say our father the prayer our lord taught us we pray for the work of the united nations and give thanks for it for the general and all that is accomplished and pray for the breaking down of barriers between and among nations on this particular day so in whatever language you like to use let's say our prayers 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 a moment of silence for your own prayers now [Music] i'm about to go off to west malling to the abbey there and the community there and today mother mary david um gives up her role as one of the trustees of saint benedict as she steps down from being abbess we give enormous thanks i'm going to chair the trustees and i shall take a gift an icon of the the good shepherd to mother mary david and give thanks for her long ministry and pray for the one who will succeed her as the mother abbess of that community 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 oh