good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden on this early morning of may the 14th which in the calendar is sin messiah's day saint matthias was the apostle who was elected and chosen after the crucifixion resurrection and ascension when the apostles found that with the absence of judas their number was incomplete so we give thanks for matthias on this day and his apostleship we also remember that mary mary seacole who was a jamaican-born british lady who went out to the crimea and cared for troops there at her own expense and in 2004 was voted the most famous and worthy black britain and also given in 2001 the jamaican order of merit we remember her nursing and she has been recently even more remembered by the opening of the care center in her name at leatherhead to care for those recovering from kovid 19 and as we continue to fight that virus her name this morning is remembered with thanksgiving oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your faithful servants bless you they make known the glory of your kingdom blessed are you sovereign god ruler and judge of all to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of this age that is passing away may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on may we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more 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 amen the psalm for this morning this 14th morning of the month is psalm 71 we read some verses from that now in you o lord do i seek refuge let me never be put to shame in your righteousness deliver me and set me free incline your ear to me and save me be for me a stronghold to which i may ever resort send out to save me for you are my rock and my fortress deliver me my god from the hand of the wicked from the grasp of the evildoer and the oppressor for you are my hope o lord god my confidence even from my youth upon you have i leaned from my birth when you drew me from my mother's womb my praise shall be always of you let my mouth be full of your praise and your glory all the day long do not cast me away in the time of old age forsake me not when my strength fails for you i will hope continually and praise you more and more my mouth shall tell of your righteousness and salvation all the day long for i know no end of the telling i will begin with the mighty works of the lord god i will recall your righteousness yours alone oh god you have taught me since i was young and to this day i tell of your wonderful works forsake me not oh god when i am old and grey-headed till i make known your deeds to the next generation and your power to all that are to come therefore will i praise you upon the harp for your faithfulness so my god i will sing to you with the liar o holy one of israel my lips will sing out as i play to you and so will my soul which you have redeemed my tongue also will tell of your righteousness all the day long for they shall be shamed and disgraced who sought to do me evil our reading this morning is a special reading for saint matthias day we're still with luke but not in his gospel we are with him in his acts of the apostles where he is writing the story of the early church for that is where matthias the new apostle belongs but first before we read the lesson set for this morning a picture of the company that was without judas they return from the mountain and they go to the upper room jesus has now left them and handed on the work to them and here is the company that are waiting there feeling incomplete then they returned to jerusalem from the mount of olives which is near jerusalem a sabbath day's journey away and when they had entered they went to the upper room where they were staying peter and john and james and andrew philip and thomas bartholomew and matthew james the son of alpheus and simon the zealot and judas the son of james all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and mary the mother of jesus and his brothers so there is the company not only the 11 apostles whom jesus has chosen to be of the number of the 12 but also his mother his family his brothers waiting there but feeling incomplete and so in prayer they asked who should take judas's place and the apostleship fell to matthias as they waited for the gift of the spirit our reading this morning though is given to us from the acts of the apostles after the giving of the spirit to show the works that the apostles began to do so here is acts chapter 2 verse 42 they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their own homes they receive their food with glad and generous hearts praising god and having favor with all the people and the lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved jesus had chosen twelve and they were known as the twelve it's house in luke describes them through his gospel and in the acts of the apostles but of course at the beginning of that the acts they're only eleven and matthias makes up the number so it's a story of longing for completeness and then of waiting and of patience the number 12 becomes important to signal that this is a new community 12 were the number of the tribes of israel 12 the number of the apostles which they felt needed to be complete there were others with them the brothers of jesus the mother of jesus the women who had followed so faithfully and in the center of the 12 beginning to minister in all these wonderful ways seeing to the needs of the people telling the good news and worshiping together still in the temple day by day but also breaking bread in their own homes matthias joined that number he had obviously been a follower with them but in the outer ring of discipleship and he he now is added to the number of the twelve when we read of the vision of the holy city in the revelation to john we find that that city that vision of the new jerusalem full of heavenly qualities which are eternal has 12 gates and the gates have as their foundations different jewels everyone named one after the other a different kind of jewel a jewel is only precious and wonderful when the light shines through it and it sparkles and each of those jewels as they're named represents an apostleship the apostles were soon scattered some lost their lives quite quickly like james the brother of john but others went across the world and their names are attached to different christian communities but here is the beginning a new community and each representing a gate but the great thing about the gates of the eternal city is that they always stand not locked but open and that verse in the revelation the gates stand open by day and there is no night which means they're always open and the apostles represent those gates beckoning in to that new community still it's a mission that each of us have to keep open gates and to ask people in at all times to the new community the gate is only a symbol the apostleship is a human reaching out for the good news for every nation and for that we give thanks on this matthias day as he made up the number of the twelve and they felt completeness at the beginning of their worldwide mystery of ministry in history and beyond let's say our prayers on this sin matthias day as always we remember areas of our anglican world today we pray for the diocese of meeting kenya in myanmar formerly known as burma and pray for john zawli the bishop there and his people pray for the diocese of zonkwa in nigeria and jacob kwashi the bishop and his people and the diocese of zululand in southern africa at present with a vacant bishopric so we pray for the people there we pray two in this diocese for justin archbishop of canterbury and for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and today in the diocese for the parish of arlington nicholas with maidstone st peter for chris lavender and barry knott in their ministry there with the reader mary garrett and all the people that they care for and look after so first the prayer for saint matthias day almighty god who in the place of the traitor judas chose your faithful servant matthias to be of the number of the twelve preserve your church from false apostles and by the ministry of faithful pastors and teachers keep us steadfast in your truth through jesus christ our lord our men the little prayer at the end of our psalm faithful lord living the savior in youth and old age from the womb to the grave may we know your protection and proclaim your great salvation to the glory of god the father men on this day as we remember mary seacole and her care of those in the 19th century we give thanks for the nursing vocation that she handed on right across the world and pray not only for the center dedicated in her name looking after the kovid 19 but also for all who are in health care today pray for ourselves and those whom we love and know and would want to pray for in the words our savior taught us in whatever language and in whatever words 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 are men so in silence we make our own prayers for this day god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon those whom you would pray for those whom you love this day and always are men