good morning and welcome on this wednesday morning when the sky is patchy blue after the rain as we say our morning prayers together we are conscious of the nations of the whole world in their struggle against coronavirus but we also have in mind anniversaries today one of them a sad kind of anniversary this was the date when dachau was liberated but at the same time we give thanks for the the courage and staying power of human beings to help one another in all kinds of desperate situations so we continue to give prayer on this easter season morning of wednesday in this third week of easter o 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 our psalm on this 29th morning of the month is psalm 139 and i'm reading the first 18 verses of that psalm the lord you have searched me out and known me you know my sitting down and my rising up you discern my thoughts from afar you mark out my journeys and my resting place and are acquainted with all my ways for there is not a word on my tongue but you o lord know it all together you encompass me behind and before and lay your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me so high that i cannot attain it where can i go then from your spirit or where can i flee from your presence if i climb up to heaven you are there if i go down into hell you are there also if i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there your hand shall lead me your right hand hold me fast if i say surely the darkness will cover me and the light around me turned to night even darkness is no darkness with you the night is as clear as the day darkness and light to you are both alike for you yourself created my inmost parts you knit me together in my mother's womb i thank you for i am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are your works my soul knows well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth your eyes beheld my form as yet unfinished already in your book were all my members written as day by day they were fashioned when as yet there was none of them how deep are your counsels to me oh god how great is the sum of them if i count them they are more in number than the sand and at the end i am still in your presence through these weeks we are reading according to our table of what is to be read on these days the gospel of saint luke passage by passage we began it as some of you will remember just a few days ago since luke chapter 1 is the longest chapter in the whole of the new testament but it is one of the most beautiful and we've read it in different sections today in this third section we join the blessed virgin mary immediately after the angel has announced her astonishing vocation and she has bent her head in obedience to that vocation and said behold the handmaid of the lord be it unto me according to your word we take up from that moment and verse 39 in those days mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in judah and she entered the house of zechariah and greeted elizabeth and when elizabeth heard the greeting of mary the baby leapt in her womb and elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb and why is this granted to me that the mother of my lord should come to me for behold when the baby in my womb heard the sound of your greeting he leapt for joy and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the lord and mary said [Music] my soul magnifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in god my savior for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant for behold from now on all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation he has shown strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to abraham and to his offspring forever and mary remained with elizabeth about three months and then returned to her own home it's a natural thing when you have something on your mind of great joy of great puzzlement in mary's case or also of great sadness to want to share that news and if you have to journey to share it the journey means nothing we saw that with the two disciples who ran back from emmaus to jerusalem with the news but here is mary who decides to make a journey on the way she must have passed many people who had no idea that she was bearing the future of humanity in her womb but there was one waiting for her at the end who would understand the importance of her news and it didn't take the announcement in detail of the news something intuitive happens to elizabeth when i heard your voice the baby in my womb leapt for joy we've already read the story of the announcement of the birth to be of the one who will be john the baptist to elizabeth and zechariah in old age and remember mary has come to their home the same home that zechariah went back to after his duty in the temple as a priest and he went back unable to speak after he had doubted the angel's message so we have to understand that zechariah is there silent in the house and for three months elizabeth and mary share their joy together this chapter of sin luke contains so many important words each gospel is different as we know but this chapter 1 with all its 80 verses give us words that are said over and over again and we find them nowhere else in all the gospels first of all the angels greeting hail you who are highly favored the lord is with you that prayer is said day by day by many millions of people in angelus in rosaries in ordinary prayers in music but also the words of elizabeth blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb words again said by millions day by day in their prayers and then every day at evening prayer mary's song of joy and obedience which we call magnificat my soul magnifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in god my savior thank god for all this music from luke the doctor for he obviously was a poet too he came to the gospel fresh and wanted to hand it on fresh to people who had no understanding of it he still does it today and others by their creativity in music and words and painting and all sorts of other means continue that act of creation of sharing the good news we do that on this morning with each other by different means communicating right across the world that joy which mary found in her vocation and her creativity and the joy that she found in meeting her cousin elizabeth and sharing that news as we do today so we come to say our prayers and in this place we of course remember the diocese of the anglican world day by day today particularly the diocese of pumalanga in south africa and the bishop there daniel kugamoso and the diocese of wyoming in the episcopal church of the united states and john smiley and his people there in this diocese we remember justin our archbishop rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and today amongst the parishes of the diocese the parish of saint lawrence in sanet pray for that whole benefits for andrew jack jacobson and ken cox in their ministry there and for peter burn the curator this also this april the 29th is the feast of sin catherine of siena saint in the end of the 14th century and the quote that she is best known for was heard by millions on this day nine years ago for it was the wedding day of the duke and duchess of cambridge and as we remember prince william and kate's wedding remember the bishop of london saying at the beginning of the sermon since catherine of siena said be who god meant you to be and you will set the world on fire a wonderful quote as we say first of all the special prayer for sin catherine of sienna's day and then an easter prayer for this season god of compassion who gave your servants catherine of siena a wondrous love of the passion of christ grant that your people may be united to him in his majesty and rejoice forever in the revelation of his glory who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever are men so the easter collect for this week almighty father who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen lord give us such knowledge of his presence with us that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth through jesus christ our lord are men so we say together the prayer that our lord taught us in whatever language in whatever way we would normally say it 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 moment of silence early on this morning for you to say your own prayers for those who are on your minds and on your hearts 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 eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in knew that which is well pleasing in his sight the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be among you and remain with you always amen [Music]