good morning and welcome to the library of the dinery in canterbury cathedral as we come to say our morning prayers outside the wind is still blowing very strongly and so we've sought some shelter in here this morning the windows of the library look out onto sunshine which comes occasionally between flying clouds on this very windy morning so wherever you are in the world welcome to canterbury cathedral oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection know christ let heaven and earth rejoice hallelujah 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 first fruits 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 as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence so god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen one of the psalms for the 11th morning of the month psalm 57 from which we read some verses now be merciful to me oh god be merciful to me for my soul takes refuge in you in the shadow of your wings will i take refuge until the storm of destruction has passed by i will call upon the most high god the god who fulfills his purpose for me he will send from heaven and save me and rebuke those that would trample upon me god will send forth his love and faithfulness i lie in the midst of lions people whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword be exalted o god above the heavens and your glory over all the earth they have laid a net for my feet my soul is pressed down they have dug a pit before me and will fall into it themselves my heart is ready o god my heart is ready i will sing and give you praise awake my soul awake harp and liar that i may awaken the dawn i will give you thanks o lord among the peoples i will sing praise to you among the nations for your loving kindness is as high as the heavens and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds be exalted oh god above the heavens and your glory over all the earth this morning the passage given to us from sin luke's gospel is written in the fourth chapter beginning at the 38th verse we are on the same sabbath day as we saw on saturday morning when we read of the time in the synagogue where jesus gave quietness and healing to the man who shouted what have you to do with us jesus of nazareth in the middle of the worship and now we find him leaving the synagogue and going to simon's house jesus arose and left the synagogue and entered simon's house now simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever and they appealed to jesus on her behalf jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her and immediately she rose and began to serve them now when the sun was setting all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to jesus and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them and demons also came out of many crying you are the son of god but jesus rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the christ and when it was day he departed and went into a desolate place and the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them but he said to them i must preach the good news of the kingdom of god to the other towns as well for i was sent for this purpose and he was preaching in the synagogues of judea this particular story is found in the first three gospels and in collecting the stories of jesus it seems likely that luke took this from saint mark's gospel sin mark describes this exceptionally busy day for jesus and even at sunset the people keep coming so that it would seem that most of the night was taken up with healing for jesus lays his hand as we hear on every one of them and bestows blessing and healing but then in the morning jesus goes off by himself to a quiet place long before the sun rises we know that from st mark's gospel and it's simon peter who comes to find him an instant mark there's a sentence everyone is looking for you that kind of feeling of being constantly constantly in demand where night and day seem to make no difference it's obviously one that jesus is finding early in his ministry and he needs to go off and spend time in reflection by himself we all need that i remember waking each morning in the city of juba in south sudan in the middle of terrible times for them and from my window in the place where i was staying and from which i was active the first thing i would see was an old missionary lady philippa gilabo who was translating the gospels into the language of the bari people using images that they could understand but what i saw each morning as the sun rose was philippa sitting on her little veranda and looking out across the troubled fields and the outskirts of the city as the sun came up it was her quiet time her time when she reflected on the scriptures her time when she found images to use for the people she loved so much so that she could put them into their language it's necessary for all of us behind me is the portrait of one of the deans they're all over the house as i've said before looking down at me and giving me encouragement from the time that they lived here is a dean from the late 17th century he lived in troubled times king james ii had fled earlier this man had been with the duke of monmouth on the scaffold as he was executed and no doubt said prayers at that troubled time but here now he stands in his portrait as dean of canterbury and in the portrait has in so many of the portraits in this house he's holding a book of common prayer and his finger is in the book as if to say this is the right page we are of the church of england of the anglican communion this is our tradition and this is how we make a quiet time of prayer for morning and evening the book sets out what is to be read what is to be thought about and it gives whether we're alone or all together something that we know can refresh us all of us need these particular times we're told by the writings of his daughter that dean hooper here became bishop of batham wells and at the age of 87 died in the village of barkley in somerset near froome because it was a place he was keen always to go to to gain refreshment rest and spiritual recharging of the batteries how often do we all need these things and how good it is that if in our traditions we are given things to read and know that this is the passage for today as luke was for us or our psalm this morning talking about the storm being overpassed and awaking the dawn with our music and our prayers all those things are gifts from our different traditions wherever we are across the world and sometimes night and day are turned upside down in troubled times think of those who have worked all night long in health services in care homes looking after those who need them most keeping the resources of the world in these troubled times at the disposal of people who need them and they come home and maybe when the sun rises it's time for compliment because they need rest and when the sun sets it's time for morning prayer for their night has turned into day that's when they must work the prayer of faithful people is ceaseless right across the world and each of us need to make time to have that quiet reflection in silence or in words in scripture read read aloud or in song normally in the cathedral we would gather as the members of the chapter we can't do that at the moment we're all locked in but we are together and as we say our morning prayers we're together with many many more people right across the world saying them with us as the day proceeds and the dawn takes its course so wherever you are may you find quiet times of blessing may you find in the scriptures and in your reflections much strength for whatever the day holds for you so we say our prayers and today we in the anglican communion are praying for the diocese of moranga south in kenya for the bishop there julius karanu wagichuru the diocese of zakib bayam in nigeria and for jezreel banda the bishop there and his people and the diocese of ikweri in nigeria and the bishop there blessing enanda and all his people in this diocese we think today of the parishes grouped together around maidstone in the area dinery there and their area dean chris lavender the late chair diane enfield and all who live and work in that area of our diocese we make our own special prayers for those for whom we would pray and as we do so we remember all those whom we have read about know about watched on our screens and whose situation has moved our hearts to prayer this morning first we use the prayer set for this week of easter tide almighty god who through your only begotten son jesus christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life grant that as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect through jesus christ our lord amen as we come to say the prayer our savior taught us in whatever language and in whatever way we like to say it we pray this morning for each other and give thanks for our ability to find quiet spaces however brief to recharge our strengths 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 we keep silence for a moment and make our own prayers 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 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 and would pray for today and always amen