welcome to canterbury cathedral on this thursday morning as we come to say some short morning prayers to dedicate this day and all that we intend during its hours this is a time when christians through the world are preparing for holy week and we're thinking of jesus and his disciples moving onwards towards the holy city on sunday next palm sunday we shall think of his entry into the city but for the moment we continue to concentrate on the journey as we say our morning prayers 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 some of the psalms are what we might call pilgrim psalms which people used on their journeys to the holy city at the time of jesus and before and still we use them as pilgrim psalms i'm going to say one now as the beginning of our morning office so to speak psalm 122 which speaks of that journey and where it will lead i was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the lord and now our feet are standing within your gate so jerusalem jerusalem built as a city that is at unity in itself that the tribes go up the tribes of the lord as is decreed for israel to give thanks to the name of the lord for there are set the thrones of judgment the thrones of the house of david who pray for the peace of jerusalem may they prosper who love you peace be within your walls and tranquility within your palaces for my kindred and companion's sake i will pray that peace be with you for the sake of the house of the lord our god i will seek to do you good some verses from the earliest of the four gospels the gospel of saint mark speaking of that journey that jesus and his disciples were making and they were on the road going up to jerusalem and jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed and those who followed were afraid and taking the twelve disciples again jesus began to tell them what was to happen to him saying behold we are going up to jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the gentiles and they will mock him and spit upon him and scourge him and kill him and after three days he will rise again we might think of jesus and his disciples going up to the holy city by themselves in a group but that would be far from the truth the feast of the passover was about to happen and people pilgrims were coming from all directions to fill the holy city and worship there canterbury is a place to which pilgrims come daily from all over the world they come on different routes some follow the chaucer canterbury tales route and no better time than this for if you remember chaucer's canterbury tales are set in april as spring begins and people want to wander and journey and others we set off from here perhaps to santiago perhaps to rome walking riding bicycles all kinds of transport sometimes doing it for three weeks at a time and coming back next year to continue where they finished off the desire to journey to a holy place but at the moment the precincts here are empty of pilgrims and across the world holy places as in saint peter's basilica are empty of people being able to go there yet pilgrimage isn't just something that happens with the body moving it's also something that happens in heart and mind we can make journeys of intention journeys of realization journeys through joy and sorrow through grief and realization journeys sometimes alone and sometimes with others as we travel in our minds and hearts this is a time when so many of us are enclosed in our own homes and as we are there we are able to make journeys most unexpected ones but also able by means such as i'm using now to you to keep in contact with each other we can still be pilgrims just as jesus and his disciples travel with so many others towards jesus's own vocation and destiny in jerusalem of old as we say our prayers we encourage one another to make those journeys particularly of hope for our world keeping in mind those who will work so hard today for the health of others and for the care of others and helping them by the knowledge of our love for them our admiration for them our pride in them and also our total encouragement even if we are sitting alone at home so we use a prayer for today god of all healing who called the light to shine in the darkness at creation and in whose eternal light there is no darkness at all be yourself a light of hope to those who dwell in darkness be a support to the fearful a listener to the lonely a purpose to those in despair that amongst the confusions and struggles of this world at this time they would find the path that leads to the fullness of life and joy and peace in jesus christ our lord amen so we say the prayer which our savior taught us to say in whatever language and in whatever way we would normally use 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 as we think of those that we need to pray for today those in our hearts and minds on this thursday morning [Music] christ crucified draw you to himself to find in him a shore ground for hope a firm support for faith and the assurance of sins forgiven and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and those whom you love today and always amen