good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral as we say our morning prayers here in the garden on this morning of tuesday the 9th of june this is a day when we remember the irish saint and missionary sent columba who died on the island of iona which many of you may know well on this day in 597 the very year that augustine came here to canterbury so we remember columba with thanksgiving as we say our morning prayers and remember in our prayers all those whom we would want to pray for those whom we love and those whom we know need our prayers on this day oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit o come let us sing to the lord let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the lord our maker for he is our god we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand 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 o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever are men our psalm on this ninth morning of the month is psalm 46. god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved and though the mountains trembled in the heart of the sea though the waters rage and swell and though the mountains quake at the towering seas there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god the holy place of the dwelling of the most high god is in the midst of her therefore shall she not be removed god shall help her at the break of day the nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken but god utters his voice and the earth shall melt away the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold come and behold the works of the lord what destruction he has wrought upon the earth he makes wars to cease in all the world he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold so we turn to our reading of luke's gospel and we find ourselves this morning at the end of chapter 10. now as jesus and his disciples went on their way they entered a village and a woman named martha welcomed him into her house and she had a sister called mary who sat at the lord's feet and listened to his teaching but martha was distracted with much serving and she went up to jesus and said lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone tell her then to help me but the lord answered her martha martha you are anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is necessary mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her usually it's not good to mix up the gospels we've been following the passages in st luke day by day and following how luke the evangelist tells his story but on this occasion with this tiny little cameo picture of the two sisters it's very very hard indeed not to have in our minds all that john's gospel tells us about that household luke just says a certain village and our minds are instantly because of john chapter 11 and 12 in bethany in the bethany household of mary and martha and lazarus their brother and we know from st john's gospel at the beginning of chapter 11 that that household is already known very well to jesus and his disciples so it's hard to keep that information out of our head this morning and to feel warm and grateful for the hospitality of the bethany household to jesus and his disciples here was a household which he blessed with his presence and clearly he loved to go to and we could say much about that hospitality this morning but we have this interesting little cameo about the difference between the two sisters and i think what it shows us is both diversity of calling and diversity of character both of them are utterly necessary to jesus and once again it's hard not to think of the other description of the supper given much farther on in jesus ministry when on the very eve of all that must happen to him in the holy city and outside its walls the bethany household gave a supper for jesus and we're told that martha served lazarus sat beside the lord and mary in the middle of the meal broke open the costly vessel of precious ointment and the house was filled with its fragrance if one wanted to be absolutely simple about it then martha was responding to jesus's bodily needs in the way she was serving him and no doubt the house there was filled with the scent of her cooking which no doubt was happening too but we've joined the meal in the middle of preparation and you know how often the one who is is getting the meal ready gets utterly impatient we have this here in the deanery often when my companion says what are you doing i i need help here and but at the same time there are other things to do with guests and this is an important thing that lazarus is talking to jesus and mary in her heart is absolutely understanding his vocation and jesus says that that understanding is not to be taken away for her from her for for her in her particular unique calling this is the good part and for martha in her unique calling the serving of jesus and giving of hospitality and the warmth and comfort of that bethany home is the good part and for lazarus the conversation giving friendship is the good part we have different companions and different friends in different parts of our lives and in a strange way we know who to call on in different situations in our lives we know who to telephone at the moment who to get in touch with who to and they might be different people because we think oh this is the very person who will understand that or this is the person who will cheer me up or this is the person who will actually comfort me because they know my needs because they know me well all of that diversity of companionship is crucial and we find jesus's mental needs being in the conversation with lazarus his physical needs in the way that martha gives hospitality and his spiritual needs because mary understands the depths and the difficulty of his vocation all those from that trio in the bethany household a hundred and fifty years ago today charles dickens died and he died at hayam in kent but she was someone who knew canterbury very well indeed in david copperfield david is sent to school here a school modeled on our king's school canterbury and the dr strong who is the headmaster at that time was modeled on the headmaster of kings dr bert whom they said the whole school idolized that's how dickens words and in in in that story also remember he meets mr micawber sitting outside the sun inn still here and uh mr micawber said he says what are you doing here and micawber says well we've come to the cathedral city because something in the cathedral city is bound to turn up no one could create a diversity of different kinds of characters and companions like charles dickens we go to him constantly for amusement but also for moving and wonderful passages about how people suffer and also about courage in adversity you can move us to tears of joy and laughter and tears of terrible sadness and regret that was dickens gift a gift in words he gave readings here in canterbury so we're give enormous thanks for him but it helps us understand what is going on today in the bethany household as the meal is prepared not quite ready yet as we read this little lesson it's a wonderful lesson for us in lockdown because lockdown has given us a chance to assess all our companionships and also perhaps to repair them get in touch with those who know us best by whatever means we can answer the letter which was never answered and to give thanks for them for giving thanks is an extraordinary blessing so let's give thanks for the cameo of the bethany household but also more to give thanks for our own diversity of companionships which are gifts to us from god and which need constant repair and treasury say our prayers on this day as we do so today we pray within the anglican communion for the diocese of new westminster in canada and for bishop melissa skelton and all her people for the diocese of amici in nigeria and the bishop ephraim ikea and his people and the diocese of jaffna in south india and daniel raja the bishop there and his people today we're praying for the community of favisham and the clergy there simon rollins and daniel corcoran for the reader kevin swinney and the worship of the church there and we also remember our archbishop justin rose bishop of dover and tim bishop at lambeth in their episcopal ministry we give thanks for the island of iona and its particular ministry as we say the collect for cinch columbus day almighty god who filled the heart of columba with the joy of the holy spirit and with deep love for those in his care may your pilgrim people follow him strong in faith sustained by hope and one in the love that binds us to you through jesus christ our lord amen and the collect for this week almighty and everlasting god you have given us your servants grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the unity keep us steadfast in this faith that we may ever more be defended from all adversities through jesus christ our lord amen with the help of psalm 46 which talks about god's stilling of the uproar of the nations and creating peace we remember our role in that too both in prayer and in activity on this day as we say each in our own language in our own way the prayer that jesus taught us 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 for our own prayers today peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and remain with you and those whom you love and would pray for today and always amen