good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this 30th of may the eve of the day of pentecost as we come to say our morning prayers welcome to wherever you from wherever you are in the world as you join us in morning prayer may god be with you in this time of combating coronavirus and with many of you in lockdown but maybe in some of your countries the situation is beginning to ease a little so we come to say our morning prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise send your holy spirit upon us and clothe us with power from on high alleluia blessed are you creator god to you be praise and glory forever as your spirit moved over the face of the waters bringing light and life to your creation pour out your spirit on us this day that we may walk as children of light and by your grace reveal your presence 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 does 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 the psalm on this day is psalm 145 and we begin at verse 9. the lord is loving to everyone and his mercy is over all his creatures all your works praise you o lord and your faithful servants bless you they tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your mighty power to make known to all peoples your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom your dominion endures throughout all ages the lord is sure in all his words and faithful in all his deeds the lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all those who are bowed down the eyes of all wait upon you o lord and you give them their food in due season you open wide your hand and fill all things living with plenty the lord is righteous in all his ways and loving in all his works the lord is near to those who call upon him to all who call upon him faithfully he fulfills the desire of those who fear him he hears their cry and saves them the lord watches over those who love him but all the wicked shall he destroy my mouth shall speak the praise of the lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever so we turn to our lesson from the gospel of saint luke which we've been reading day by day through these weeks and we come to the chapter 9 and begin at verse 1. and jesus called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of god and to heal and he said to them take nothing for your journey no staff no bag no bread no money and do not have two tunics and whatever house you enter say stay there and from there depart and wherever they do not receive you when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them so they departed and went through the villages preaching the gospel and healing everywhere now king herod heard about all that was happening and he was perplexed because it was said by some that john the baptist had been raised from the dead by others that elijah the prophet had appeared and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen herod said john i beheaded but who is this about whom i hear such things and he sought to see jesus on their return the apostles told jesus all that they had done and he took them and withdrew apart to a town called bethsider but when the crowds learned it they followed him and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of god and cured those who needed healing now the day began to wear away and the twelve came and said to him send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provision for we are here in a desolate place but jesus said to them you give them something to eat they said but we have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we are to go and buy food for all these people for there were about 5 000 men and jesus said to his disciples make them sit down in groups of about 50 each and they did so and made them all sit down and taking the five loaves and the two fish jesus looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd and they all act and were satisfied and what was left over was picked up 12 baskets of broken pieces once again the crowds surround jesus he has tried to withdraw with his disciples to a place of quiet but instead they find themselves surrounded by crowds five thousand men luke says and when jesus comes to sit them down he says sit them in groups of fifty that's a hundred groups of fifty men it's an army and one begins to see that there is a thought and it becomes apparent in other gospels there is a thought that messiah is being looked at as someone who will lead an army of power against the roman occupying force and those collaborating with them the mighty one will be there armed and ready with already a hundred groups of fifty men but jesus arms them with bread which he has blessed and is bountiful and the disciples when they have finished this meal pick up broken pieces one basket for each of them to use in their messianic vocation of feeding the people broken pieces we said that a different jesus appeared across the lake from the time when he calmed the broken mind of the jerusalem man whose name was given to him again to return home in a foreign land for the ministry has become wider and jesus is always seen traveling walking well we were thinking yesterday that it was the anniversary of pope john paul ii visit to canterbury a wonderful time on may the 29th pentecost monday that year in 1982 and a strong young pope came full of hope from a different area of europe from poland determined to visit nation after nation to bring the gospel and embrace those that who saw themselves as friends of jesus the body of christ even though in broken pieces he came here and there is a wonderful picture of hospitality being given by dean victor val here in the dining room of the dinery with the young pope with the archbishop robert ramsey and the young prince of wales full of strength he looks and in that ministry we remembered him yesterday the ministry of going from place to place from altar to altar in different places giving the kiss of peace the embrace to the archbishop but there is another story of john paul ii when we think of him not in strength but in weakness and nothing in his spirit was daunted even though that strong body was beginning to break up nevertheless the spirit and the flame burned bright and we see him then following the attempt on his life and from his hospital giving forgiveness to the man who was his assassin the man who later in a later illness of the pope sent the first letter wishing him well and praying for his restoration to health but when we see him following that still continuing his vocation his body wracked with parkinson's disease and when we see the final blessing we realize that the gospel of jesus christ which we give in our lives in our words can also be given in brokenness very powerfully the invitation is still there we give thanks for john paul the second visit in strengths but we also give thanks for his witness in weakness when he lit a candle with robert ranci runs he had lit a candle for the murdered archbishop of uganda janani lawoon john paul for maximilian colbert the priest who gave his life for another a young man in auschwitz and later the pope canonized culver with that young man now grown to middle age with his children standing beside him a ministry growing from physical strength to physical weakness but all the more powerful in weakness we see vocations develop and in luke's gospel we have seen jesus's vocation as our messiah developing developing widening and widening his physical body growing tired he knowing that he must in some way submit that to suffering and death but his power as messiah to heal and to forgive and to point the way to heaven's eternity and a new kingdom grows stronger and stronger here's a good thoughts as we prepare for pentecost when the gifts and graces of the spirit will be lavished upon us in our physical weakness or our physical strength to use as the body of christ let's say our prayers today we pray in the anglican communion for the diocese of nebi in uganda for the bishop alphonse wathokudi and his people two more dioceses in nigeria acocco and the bishop gabriel and a coco edo and the bishop jolly oyekpen and his people and in the episcopal church of the united states of america we pray for the diocese of iowa and bishop alan scarf and his people here in this diocese of canterbury for the archbishop justin and for bishop rose of dover in their ministries and also for tim bishop at lambeth in his episcopal ministry the parishes we pray for today are grouped in the len valley benefits and they are the villages of borton harriet sham lenim and alchem and we pray for john huggins in his ministry and the readers joan drury and pamela quirden so we say the prayer at this time which we use for the last time as this season comes to an end oh god the king of glory you have exalted your only son jesus christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven we beseech you leave us not comfortless but send your holy spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our savior christ is gone before who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever are men and the psalm connect king of the universe you show the bright glory of your reign in acts of mercy and enduring love raise the spirits of the downcast and restore those who have fallen away that we may sing forever of your love through jesus christ our lord amen so we say the prayer our lord taught us to say when we gather together in whatever language and whatever words you would like to 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 the moment of silence for our own prayers on this eve of the feast of pentecost christ who ascended on high as king of kings and lord of lords fill you with the gifts and grace of his holy spirit and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon those whom you love and would pray for this day and always amen