welcome to canterbury cathedral on this wednesday morning of holy week as we come together to say our morning prayers our hearts and minds are filled with prayers and intentions and love for those for whom this coronavirus means not only being locked in but being treated for the disease itself we think of those in our intensive care units not only in this country but throughout the world and among them of course we pray for boris johnson our prime minister and for his recovery as for all others in need of healing oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise let your ways be known upon us your saving power among the nations blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief your only son was lifted up that he might draw the whole world to himself may we walk this day in the way of the cross and always be ready to share its weight declaring your love for all the world blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever one of the sounds set for this eighth morning of the month is psalm 40 and i'm reading some verses from it now i waited patiently for the lord he inclined to me and heard my cry he brought me out of the roaring piss out of the mire and clay he set my feet upon a rock and made my footing sure and he has put a new song in my mouth a song of praise to our god many shall see and fear and put their trust in the lord blessed is the one who trusts in the lord who does not turn to the proud that follow a lie great are the wonders you have done o lord my god how great your designs for us there is none that can be compared with you if i were to proclaim them and tell of them they would be more than i am able to express sacrifice and offering you do not desire but my ears you have opened burnt offering and sacrifice for sin you have not required then said i lo i come in the scroll of the book it is written of me that i should do your will oh my god i delight to do it your law is within my heart i have declared your righteousness in the great congregation behold i did not restrain my lips and that oh lord you know we have followed jesus day by day with his disciples going backwards and forwards from bethany to teach in the temple courtyards and on this morning i'm reading a section of the gospel of saint mark the end of chapter 12 and the beginning of chapter 13 as they are sitting perhaps after the day's teaching in the temple the outer courtyard opposite the treasury and jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury many rich people put in large sums and then a poor widow came and put in two copper coins which make a penny jesus called his disciples to him and said to them truly i say to you this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury for they all contributed out of their abundance but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had her whole living and as he came out of the temple one of his disciples said to him look teacher what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings and jesus said to him do you see these great buildings there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down jesus giving us a sense of perspective in his own vocation and also teaching us to give quality and understanding to what self-offering might be from each person the story of the poor widow who puts in two small copper coins is one that talks about human and divine values her heart was full of self-offering and she gave that to the holy place and jesus notices that and what it cost her but at the same time he compares that with those who hardly notice what they're giving because they have so much it's a lesson in what we value and whom we value but at the same time it's a lesson in where we value for then the disciples awed with wonder because they're simple galileans who have come to the capital city and are standing there in the magnificence of hera's temple which is still in the process of being completed and they say what wonderful buildings and jesus looking perhaps into the future at what the violence and faction of the city is bound to lead to prophesies rightly about the year 70 when the romans because of so much dissension and troubled and revolt attack and surround the city of jerusalem and destroy the temple not leaving one stone standing above another human history moves on as our sound says but at the same time in the middle of it we notice the quality and value of each human life made in god's image and able to express the eternal values unending values of the kingdom of heaven for that at this time of human crisis we give thanks this morning as we say our prayers as always we remember in this mother church of our anglican communion the diocese of the anglican world day by day in our calendar and today we are praying for the diocese of michigan and bonnie perry the bishop there and the people of michigan and west texas and david reed the bishop there and his people both of these are in the episcopal church of the united states of america and in this diocese as we pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth today we pray for the ashford town ministry here in kent so we say a prayer first of all for healing for those suffering from this virus before we say the prayer which is special for holy week healing god whose son jesus brought wholeness to lives through the power of his love pour out we pray your power to heal upon all those who work in medicine that through your mercy we may see in our own day the injured and sick return to health the distressed led to happiness and the broken restored to wholeness through jesus christ our lord amen so the special prayer for this holy week almighty and everlasting god who in your tender love towards the human race sent your son our savior jesus christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility and also be made partakers of his resurrection through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language and in our own way as we remember all those for whom we would pray today the prayer that our savior taught us saying 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 of silence now as we make our own prayers for this morning so we come this morning to the 11th station of the cross the 11th station jesus is nailed to the cross i have here an old hammer which is used for driving in nails and fixing things so that they will not move the hammer is set in this station of the cross to nail jesus's hands and feet completely stopping movement it causes us to think of how many miles in his ministry walking from place to place jesus's feet have taken him in sharing his developing vocation as messiah causes us also to think just what those hands have achieved in their freedom to bless to heal to touch to break bread we truly as human beings really rely on our hands and feet and perhaps it's a morning for praying for any who are unable to use them but it's almost also a mourning for thinking uh of how those who would want to completely stop the ministry of jesus in that story do so by fixing his hands and feet to the cross so that all movement is prohibited as he dies but at the same time jesus continues to bless with his lips and intentions from the cross even forgiving the penitent thief hanging beside him in the gospel of saint luke so as we contemplate this station of the cross jesus is nailed to the cross you say holy god holy and strong holy and immortal have mercy upon us [Music]