good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden as we come to say our morning prayers on this beautiful morning of the 18th of may it's a monday morning and yet it feels very different across the world because the work of the world has been in some measure interrupted by our defenses against the coronavirus so wherever you are and whether you're in your homes or or working in an office or in a workplace then please feel free to join us in prayer this morning or later in the day when you are watching us reaching out to you in morning prayer 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 to 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 and 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 the sound for this morning of the 18th day of the month is psalm 92 it is a good thing to give thanks to the lord and to sing praises to your name almost high to tell of your love early in the morning and of your faithfulness in the night time upon the ten-stringed instrument upon the harp and to the melody of the liar for you lord have made me glad by your acts and i sing aloud at the works of your hands oh lord how glorious are your works your thoughts are very deep the senseless do not know nor do fools understand that though the wicked sprouts like grass and all the workers of iniquity flourish it is only to be destroyed forever but you o lord shall be exalted forevermore for lo your enemies o lord thou your enemies shall perish and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered but my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild oxen i am anointed with fresh oil my eyes will look down on my foes my ear shall hear the ruin of the evildoers who rise up against me the righteous shall flourish like a pound tree and shall spread abroad like a cedar of lebanon such as are planted in the house of the lord shall flourish in the courts of our god they shall still bear fruit in old age they shall be vigorous and in full leaf that they may show that the lord is true he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him we come to continue our reading of the gospel of saint luke which was interrupted by the special readings for relegation sunday this is still a regulation day when we are asking god's blessing upon all growing things in the earth and for the work of the world but here is jesus about his daily activity speaking to the people in luke chapter 6 beginning at verse 27 i say to you love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you to one who strikes you on the cheek offer the other also and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either give to everyone who begs from you and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back and as you wish that others would do to you do so to them if you love those who love you what benefit is that to you for even sinners love those who love them and if you do good to those who do good to you what benefit is that to you for even sinners do the same and if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive what credit is that to you even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount but love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great and you will be children of the most high for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil be merciful then even as your father is merciful judge not and you will not be judged condemn not and you will not be condemned forgive and you will be forgiven give and it will be given to you good measure pressed down shaken together running over will be put into your lap for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you these sentences are used by jesus in both a sermon in saint matthew's gospel and a sermon in saint luke's gospel we have to remember that while jesus was often pictured in the temple courtyard speaking to the people much more often was he speaking to them out in the open air in the countryside in galilee in judea by the river jordan by the lakeside and i am sure that he said many of the same things in different ways to teach his lesson over and over again he spoke to crowds to groups it must have been difficult at times to hear what he was saying but he was there with them standing amongst them and it's interesting to see that matthew from his more jewish perspective places the collection of jesus is teaching known as the sermon on the mount up high like the model of moses giving the law from the mountaintop luke from his more gentile mediterranean greek background is thinking of philosophers who walk around with their own group of followers teaching the crowds on a flat place and so one has the incidence of jesus coming down from the mountain to choose his disciples and finding a level place to teach and luke of course collects many of the sayings in groups so that we hear them as what has been known as the sermon on the plane nevertheless it's good to remember that jesus must have shaped these images in many different ways and as we hear them slightly differently in matthew and luke it gives us a reminder of jesus walking walking walking to find new people new communities new people to give the good news to wherever and finally in the courtyards of the temple but today here we are in the flatness of the garden this great lawn is so often filled with people for various reasons through the year at the moment in our lockdown state it is empty and quiet except for the song of the birds and we can use it this morning to think of our lord's lesson on forgiveness on may the 29th 1982 pope john paul ii visited this house he had been in the cathedral and said prayers at the place of thomas beckett's martyrdom he'd stood at the high altar and held the gospels of saint augustine but at the same time he then came for shall we call it homely hospitality in this house we remember this morning what he said about forgiveness here it is he wrote certainly forgiveness does not come spontaneously or naturally to people forgiving from the heart can sometimes be heroic thanks to the healing power of love even the most wounded heart can experience the liberating encounter with forgiveness we remember the photograph of him sitting with the one who two years before had tried to assassinate him giving forgiveness we remember also that when john paul ii was seriously ill later the first letter wishing him well came from that would-be assassin who had been forgiven but when john paul the second speaks about the liberating power of forgiveness to the human heart he's not only speaking about the one who committed the sin and needs to be forgiven he's also speaking about the one who in his or her heart finds it difficult to forgive alexander pope the poet said to er is human to forgive divine but much more wisely did william blake the poet say it is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend sometimes an enemy is hardly known to us and although it's not easy to forgive anyone if one have been hurt it's much easier to feel that forgiveness to someone far off than it is to feel for someone whom you saw as your friend and wants still to see as your friend but your heart has hardened and that hurts you as well as them the liberating power of forgiveness is one of the gifts that jesus in his ministry whether on the plane or on the mountain on the lakeside or in the temple courtyard wants to give to people sometimes he does it and you can see the smiles in ridiculous ridiculously generous ways because he knows that the father the creator is ridiculously generous with his gifts but when he's speaking about the ridiculous nature of generosity there's no logic in it and we heard that with the amount we're expected to give then he's actually speaking about a mutual benefit of forgiveness from the one who needs to forgive and the one who needs to be forgiven we shall say words of that kind in the our father a bit later on we mustn't trip over them daily as though they mean nothing they're coming back to this essential teaching of jesus about the human heart and its need to forgive and be ready to receive the forgiveness both of those whom we think hostile but also those whom we see as friends let's say our prayers together on this irrigation day first we pray for our anglican communion and today for the diocese of nakuru in kenya for bishop joseph muchai there and his people the diocese of abba kaliki in nigeria and the bishop mande n kuoga and his people and also in nigeria the bishop the diocese of ilaje and bishop frederick oligbaymi and all his people we pray for justin archbishop of canterbury ford rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and here in this diocese today for the parish of saint andrew barming heath at maidstone and pray for chris lavender in his ministry there and barry notch the curator so we say first the prayer for this week of easter time god our redeemer you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your son grant that as by his death he has recalled us to life so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy through jesus christ our lord amen the prayer for this regation day as monday tuesday wednesday of this week our regulation days almighty god whose will it is that the earth and the sea should bear fruit in due season bless the labours of those who work on land and sea grant us a good harvest and the grace always to rejoice in your care through jesus christ our lord amen so we say together in whatever language you like to use and in whichever way you like to say it the prayer our lord taught us having special notice this morning of those words about forgiveness 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 words of our own in the silence that follows of prayer for those whom we would pray for pray for on this day the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus 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 and upon those whom you love those you would pray for today and always amen