good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of sunday the 17th of april it's easter day very early in the morning and the story begins the narrative begins of easter in the darkness before ever any light begins to appear and so we're starting at that level of light and we shall gradually come back to this at a brighter time because the story has several parts even on easter morning and we want to get the feel of how looking through the darkness the people who come first to the tomb have a sense of something strange but at first they can't seem to see what they're looking at but everything will burst out into a a wonder of joy and we shall be reading from sin john's gospel but referring to the others which will go through easter week bit by bit so that the whole event is laid out before us but for this morning a happy easter to you wherever you are in the world feel welcome uh and enjoy this major chief festival of the christian year as we begin even before the day has begun we keep in our prayers those people in ukraine that we have been praying for in such danger and so many people across the world for whom this will be anything but a happy easter because of all kinds of circumstances they find themselves in but it is nevertheless a festival of resurrection of new beginnings in a wonderful way so let's start our prayers in the darkness of this easter morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection o christ let heaven and earth rejoice alleluia blessed are you lord god of our salvation do you be praise and glory forever as once you ransomed your people from egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen son may we the firstfruits of your new creation rejoice in this new day you have made and praise you for your mighty acts 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 say may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm this morning is a proper psalm i mean a special psalm for easter day in psalm 118 and i think it's the same for easter day particularly because of one verse in it oh give thanks to the lord for he is good his mercy and yours forever let israel now proclaim his mercy endures forever let the house of aaron now proclaim his mercy endures forever let those who fear the lord proclaim his mercy endures forever in my constraint i called to the lord the lord answered and set me free the lord is at my side i will not fear what can flesh do to me with the lord at my side as my savior i shall see the downfall of my enemies it is better to take refuge in the lord than to put any confidence in flesh it is better to take refuge in the lord than to put any confidence in princess all the nations encompass me but by the name of the lord i drove them back they hemmed me in they hemmed me in on every side but by the name of the lord i drove them back they swarmed about me like bees they blazed like fire among thorns but by the name of the lord i drove them back surely i was thrust to the brink but the lord came to my help the lord is my strengths and my song and he has become my salvation joyful shouts of salvation sound from the tents of the righteous the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds the right hand of the lord raises up the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds i shall not die but live and proclaim the works of the lord the lord has punished me solely but he has not given me over to death open to me the gates of righteousness that i may enter and give thanks to the lord this is the gate of the lord the righteous shall enter through it i will give thanks to you for you have answered me i have become and have become my salvation the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone this is the lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it come o lord and save us we pray come lord send us now prosperity blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord we bless you from the house of the lord the lord is god he has given us light link the pilgrims with cords right to the horns of the altar you are my god and i will thank you you are my god and i will exalt you oh give thanks to the lord for he is good his mercy endures forever i think the verse which causes this to be the great easter psalm is this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it it's easter day it's a day for rejoicing but it starts in darkness and even in the fourth gospel when mary magdalene comes to the tomb it is dark before day in the other gospels as we'll reflect on in a moment but let's read this one first this first section the other gospels the same story it's dark and early this is chapter 20 of the fourth gospel sin john starting at the beginning now on the first day of the week mary magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb so she ran and went to simon peter and the other disciple the one whom jesus loved and said to them they have taken the lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him so peter went out with the other disciple and they were going towards the tomb both of them were running together but the other disciple outran peter and reached the tomb first and stooping to look in he saw the linen cloths lying there but he did not go in then simon peter came following him and went into the tomb he saw the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth which had been on jesus's head not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead then the disciples went back to their homes the first section of the way the fourth gospel opens the story of easter in the darkness mary magdalene coming alone in this gospel the last of the gospels to be put together and written and mary is focused on because she will have a crucial part to play as the day opens up if we go to the earliest of the gospels and we shall do that in detail on another day through this easter week i'm talking about the gospel of saint mark then a group of the women come towards the tomb the same way and it's very dark and they're asking each other who will remove the stone for us and then when they get there in the dim light they see that the stone which was very heavy has been removed but as they look in they see the figure of a young man who comes out and gives them an extraordinary message which will be fulfilled in this false gospel this week will be rather like a resurrection jigsaw and we shall enjoy doing this puzzle together but what it will do also is to unite the two planes the two levels heaven and earth that jesus has been speaking about right through the fourth gospel we could look at the gospel of saint matthew and find a different way of telling the beginning of this story but still early in the day before it was light or we could look at luke and find exactly the same and each gospel concentrates on a different facet a different aspect of this day which like a budding flower will burst out into a sense of rejoicing this really is the christian festival above all other festivals and we ourselves in the cathedral today have the busiest of days in a while i shall go into the cathedral at 10 minutes to 7 and there the bbc have wired us up for sound so that our early morning eucharist will be broadcast to the nation from the bbc and first of all as always on these occasions we have to have a little rehearsal just to put things right we've already been through it today but that service will be something which so many can enjoy and there will be the music of the choir and the alleluias ringing out for the first time since lent began and the hymns of easter day jesus christ is risen today alleluia all those wonderful hymns but that's with the brightness of the morning for the moment the discovery of resurrection not witnessed by any the discovery that resurrection has happened is very much part of the story of very very early morning and here we have that told byst john mary magdalene runs back tells the two disciples that she finds peter and john and peter and john run to the tomb i think we've said before there's a wonderful painting in the musee d'orsay in in paris of peter and john running to the tomb and they're not looking full of joy i think at first they must have thought that someone has come along and stolen the body but they get to the tomb and peter goes in and finds it empty and john goes in and sees the linen wrappings lying there and we're told that that disciple the beloved disciple sees and believes the whole dimension opens up for him there and then in the darkness of the morning and notice the the pace of things have now changed before there was a slow pace because they were in mourning now everyone is running and we shall find through this week that speed is very often part of the way in which energy returns to this little group but realization dawns like the sun quite slowly and as the morning begins to brighten then all of that begins to happen we'll come back to that because we're doing this in two parts again as we've done recently one in the darkness because that's an aspect of this story the other in the bright light of the day when new realizations begin to take place this will be a day of huge celebration today and tomorrow where easter parades and wonderful things will be happening all over the world so that easter is being celebrated celebrated in so many different ways and already this morning two visitors who've been sent to us who are going to help us celebrate the day in a wonderful festive way once the dawn breaks and our joy becomes really unrestrained but we have a glimpse of them now even at this dark time and we're happy that they've been sent to us and happy that they've come because they're here to say even in the darkness of the morning a happy easter to you this story will continue from darkness through the dawning and the rising of the sun until clear light shows something very different in the easter garden [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] me is [Music] [Music] hi good morning now in the middle of the morning we've come back to our garden and the sun has now risen properly and i've been away uh on the live broadcast of the early morning eucharist at which the archbishop preached and i celebrated from the cathedral as uh the bbc uh used us as their easter morning service with the choir singing in full heart well all of that meant that the sun had time to rise and the easter narrative as told us in the gospel of saint john is very much in two parts we saw the dark part before ever the sun had risen and we read that part and you remember that the two disciples when mary had fetched them ran to the tomb and then at the end of that story they went home again but mary had obviously followed them back to the tomb and she stays in the garden as the sun comes up so here i am sitting amongst all the flowers of springtime in the northern hemisphere so wherever you are are your seasons may be very different from this but this is a spring morning and it couldn't be a better spring morning the sun has come up in great glory there are birds all around us the robin is there on the tree uh and we'll come down i'm sure to take some food he said hello uh mr robin you weren't around in the darkness but you're here very much now tiger is here but there are black birds and there are all sorts of warblers and and thrushes around and at the same time flowers everywhere wonderful cherry blossom behind me blooming in full flower and also the yellow of the daffodils still just showing there's some yellow tulips mahonia and the the lovely blue of the vipers bugloss all these things giving a great scent to things as the orchard begins to flower but this freshness this spring is something that causes people to think in the northern hemisphere very much of easter and resurrection and it's a time for festivals as well so there are some strange but festive visitors in the garden as well because easter is a time for that festival and easter parades and easter bonnets and easter rabbits and all of those things and chocolate eggs so all those things we remember on this easter morning as we proclaim christ is wisdom hallelujah [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] bye [Music] foreign [Music] us [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] christ is wisdom alleluia here's the second part of that story the disciples have gone home the sun has risen and mary is still in the garden mary magdalene still in the garden but mary stood weeping outside the tomb and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of jesus had lain one at the head and one at the feet they said to her woman why are you weeping she said to them they have taken away my lord and i do not know where they have laid him having said this mary turned round and saw jesus standing but she did not know that it was jesus jesus said to her woman why are you weeping whom are you seeking supposing him to be the gardener she said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and i will take him away jesus said to her mary she turned and said to him in aramaic rabonai which means my teacher jesus said to her do not cling to me for i have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and say to them i am ascending to my father and your father to my god and your god mary magdalene went and announced to the disciples i have seen the lord and that he had said these things to her it's the great easter scene of mary weeping and turning round and sensing someone standing behind her and the obvious thought to her on this first morning of the week it was a working morning the sabbath was over and as the sun comes up the most obvious person to be there in the garden was the gardener so she thinking jesus is the gardener says when he says why are you weeping what are you looking for whom are you seeking and she says they've taken away my lord and i don't know where they've laid him and then asked for help in finding him and he jesus simply says her name mary in these resurrection stories there is often at the beginning a sense of non-recognition of jesus and then something very ordinary evokes the memory and they recognize him and sense something of that special nature of the risen jesus she answers as she would have done when he was with them physically but she had sought him dead and now she answers in wonder it's hard to put enough wonder astonishment and the emotions that must have been pouring in to mary when he says her name and recognition dawns entirely my teacher rabonai in their common language in and at that time uh she recognizes the lord but he instantly establishes the new relationship and sets into that the relationship which he had been establishing around the supper table by saying to those who were the 11 now who were going to take the good news the gift of god out into the world by the power of the holy spirit yet to be given and as he does that he establishes that new relationship don't cling to me but go to my brothers that i think means his family to start with and then to the disciples next we find the family taking a greater and greater part and james his uh elder brother um from i believe joseph's first marriage if joseph was a widower when he married mary james becomes the leader of the church in jerusalem and is himself martyred in the city of jerusalem later on touch me not go to my brothers and tell them that i'm going to my father and your father to my god and your god and in doing so he unites the two planes that we've seen jesus talking on all the way through really since the conversation with nicodemus but also probably before that the conversation it's oh probably the the first one that we see absolutely evidently like that is with nathanael under the fig tree but now those two planes are united heaven and earth are united on this day in resurrection glory and new life and it's our task to proclaim that across the world in places which are still dark and feeling no resurrection glory because they are suffering from the capacity of humankind to do evil or the fragility of humankind to face disaster and be seriously damaged hurt or killed and taken into the new dimension in ways which are sudden and horrendous yet the message of heaven's glory and quality is still for us to proclaim as the body of christ and easter morning is the day which establishes that and unites heaven and earth the great exaltet in the middle of the night which is sung when the easter fire is lit and the candles are kindled in the middle of the night we did that in the cathedral last night and that establishes that the easter candle is uniting heaven and earth in glory as the creator enfolds those to whom he longs to give the gift and show them their capacity to be divine for one another [Music] is [Music] r [Music] is [Music] is [Music] so that fresh story is the great easter image and the simplicity of res of recognition is something we shall come across this week as we go through the easter stories one by one in the mornings in the garden there are things which are happening of course all over the world today to celebrate and we're not alone in celebration the orthodox still are in their holy week and are now going towards easter human time never seems to match together but at the moment of course the passover feast for the our jewish friends is happening too and we're having all all these connections but at the same time and fetch is going to be crossed with me now because he told me i'm i wasn't to do this i have to remember that in 1397 on this day uh the um court of richard ii first heard from jeffrey chaucer reciting it to them as though it were a story and a description the canterbury tales he said we've done that too recently don't don't read it again well in fact i think it is a good morning to read just the beginning of the canterbury tales in a modern english translation some of you we know well and i'm thinking of our friend kenneth in new york can recite this in middle english but uh it's a confusing language to hear and to get the the sense of if you don't know it so here it is in what i think is a good translation and it needs to be read on an april morning for in those days when winter lost its grip think 1397 when winter lost its grip and people came out of dark small houses and thought now is the time to journey now is the time to go on pilgrimage and off they won when cheering one another up so here's the just the beginning of the prologue right down to the pilgrimage starting when april with his showers sweet with fruit the drought of march has pierced onto the root and based each vein with liquor that has power to generate therein and sire the flower when zephyr also has with his sweet breath quickened again in every holton heath the tender shoots and buds and the young sun into the ram one half his course has run and many little birds make melody that sleeps through all the night with open eye so nature pricks them on to rampant rage then do folk long to go on pilgrimage and palmers to go seeking out strange strands to distant shrines well known in sundry lands and especially from every shire's end of england they to canterbury went the holy blessed martyr there to seek who helped them when they lay so ill and weak befell that in that season on a day in sadaq at the tabard as i lay ready to start up on my pilgrimage to canterbury full of devout homage there came at nightfall to that hostily some nine and twenty in a company of sundry persons who had chance to fall in fellowship and pilgrims were they all that toward canterbury town would ride the rooms and stables spacious where and wide and well we there were eased and of the best and briefly when the sun had gone to rest so had i spoken with them everyone that i was of their fellowship anon and made agreement that we'd early rise to take the road as you i will a prize but nonetheless whilst i have time and space before yet father in this tale i pace it seems to me accordant with reason to inform you of the state of every one of all of these as it appeared to me and who they were and what was their degree and even how arrayed there at the inn and with a knight thus will i first begin he's going to do exactly what the fourth gospel does introduce to us the characters one by one and the whole prologue is filled of that diversity of the 29 characters but then on the way and this happens so often in pilgrimage and journeys each of them entertains by telling a story there was no virtual entertainment in those days so when they settled at the inn at night and they had their supper and sat round the fire afterwards each would tell a story and the telling of story and narrative has always been utterly compulsive to humanity and it still very much is but it's talking of an april day when people felt well i can't stay at home in the darkness i need to go out and roam the roads and canterbury was a good destination because of course the great shrine of st thomas the mata was here in those days and all the people rode to canterbury cheering each other on the way like the processions and the the fantastical things that uh like our guests here this morning all over the orchard are cheering us as we go along and the things that we shall give to each other are festive things in terms of chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits and all sorts of strange gifts it's showing our happiness with the not only the earthly dimension but the way in which heaven gives a sense of new beginnings on this easter day so let's say our prayers on this easter day and remember that we shall carry on the easter journey throughout this week we're praying in our diocese today for the parishes generally and uh in the anglican communion for the united church of pakistan we're also asked to pray for the peace of jerusalem but of course we pray also for the peace of ukraine and all those who for whom this is more like good friday than yesterday because they've left their homes and not yet found a settled place to be perhaps but we give thanks that some have found hospitality and a new home so let's send say the easter day prayer lord of all life and power who through the mighty resurrection of your son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him grant that we being dead to sin and alive to you in jesus christ may reign with him in glory to whom with you in the holy spirit be praise and honor glory and might now and in all eternity 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 so as we reflect this morning reflect on those whom you know and are separated from and reflect also on the new life offered at easter tide in order that we can make new beginnings do [Music] morning has broken like the first morning blackbird has spoken like the first crowd [Music] praise for the singing praise for the morning praise for them springing fresh from the world sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven [Music] praise for the sweetness of the wet god sprung in completeness where his feet pass mine is the sunlight mine is the morning born of the one light praise with elation praise every morning god's recreation of the new day [Music] the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus christ that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and upon those who you would pray for this easter day and always are men now this uh this feast is very much one for the children there will be easter egg hunts through the gardens and all kinds of lovely things going on and games to play but it reminds us that we ourself are going to puzzle out a riddle on this easter morning also and if i go back to find the ones i asked yesterday i'll have to find them uh where we are yes i work when i play and i play when i work well that of course what am i that of course is a musician then i am drawn by everyone without pen or pencil what am i and that is breath you draw breath and i will draw breath now while i look at two more for you and i'm going to the medium difficult now uh and the first two of those i'm lighter than a feather yet the strongest man can't hold me for more than five minutes what am i and then i am the beginning of the end the end of every place i am the beginning of eternity the end of time and space what am i well that we'll look at tomorrow and meanwhile we'll see what our lost words book how to mention why it's called the lost words and it's because robert mcfarlane is conscious and he is a a great scholar of of words in literature but he is conscious that in the children's vocabulary of today most of the words that we've mentioned which used to be commonplace and and uh children would know them but for so many words like acorn and fern and newt uh and even magpie are disappearing from the vocabulary and he calls these poems spells whereby the word is conjured up again and replaced not only in children's vocabulary but in adult vocabularies because so many things of the countryside and of this earth are being lost so yesterday uh the the words being lost yesterday we looked at the otters another word that perhaps isn't often on the tongue of uh us or the children and today yesterday we're given it's not intentionally easter it's just where we've come the raven the raven is an extraordinary bird and is the biggest of the of the uh crow family really and has a very deep bass voice and it can be taught to speak and i remember at a bird sanctuary going along and suddenly a bass voice was going hello and it was a raven standing on a on a patch but we have all around us of the same family the these birds but here's a raven massive rock rasps what are you i am raven of the blue back jacket and the boxers swagger stronger and older than peak and then boulder wraps raven in reply ayer asks what are you i am raven prince of play king of guile grin on face base jumper twice as agile as the wind thrice as fast as any gale rasps raven in reply vixen ventures what are you i am raven solver of problems picker of locks who can often outsmart stoat and always outthink fox scoffs raven in reply earth inquires what are you i am raven i have followed men from forest edge to city scarp black shadow dark familiar hex is raven in reply nothing knows what you are not true for i am raven who nothing cannot know i steal eggs the better to grow i eat eyes the better to see i pluck wings the better to fly riddles raven in reply the biggest of the crow family and our corny crow who looks so big on the lawn compared with little robin here uh is actually made to look quite small by a raven and here is a raven in a snowscape today well there's not a snowscape around me there's very much a sunscape on this easter day and what i want to do before i have to go across for the main cathedral eucharist which i shall celebrate and again the archbishop will preach um in the cathedral but what i wanted to do was say have a really happy easter and remember that the days of easter now carry on we've come a long journey through lent and arrived at the passion of our lord and to good friday itself but now after a day's pause for reflection the tomb is empty and the disciples are given a completely new message and the first evangelist of that message is mary magdalene running from the garden with the news i have seen the lord what a wonderful message for easter day so god bless you all and may you see the lord in so many aspects of your life in the days to come [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 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