good morning and welcome to the Deery Garden at Canterbury Cathedral on this Saturday the 15th of May As We Gather for morning prayer the Saturday following Ascension Day and we've come into the front garden here you see Clemy here with us this morning and we're very much hoping that Clem's piglets may join us they are very shy they've never yet ventured out of their enclosure and it's no good trying to drive them um they have to come of their own accord so if you see them creeping out that will be the first time this morning and you need to be very very quiet as they come out so that they don't get scared away their aunts have gone to a different part of the place this morning and so it's only mommy who is waiting here Clemy but she's actually more interested in Breakfast at the moment they probably had some breakfast but there's Breakfast waiting out here as well if they would like we've come out here because I want wanted to pay tribute to a very special person his name Mike clinch and he has died recently having been a member of the Kent archaeological Society for over 60 years he he joined in I think 1954 and for many years latly was the uh Vice chairman of that group but he was also a member of the Kent underground research group now an introduction was effective uh and Fletcher made that introduction with our friend phis sons and the members of the Kent underground research group came along kirg they call themselves as the acronym um came along to uh investigate the great monastic drain which goes under where I'm sitting here but it's already traveled from the Christ Church gate all the way along the South face of the cathedral and then diagonally across here over to the Green Court around that and out at what is now the Minard gate out into the river Beyond it was a way of draining water out and as I say it's a medieval drain which was part of monastic life and at that time also um the the waters ran freely but there was a thought that this was very silted up and so Fletcher arranged that the group would go down and he and uh lady Sons went down with them it's not my kind of thing at all and crawled through the drain below to find out where all this was uh silting up now they found the patches and had we uh excavated by opening it up at the top to clear all that it would have cost upward of well £500,000 or more um but uh fet arranged that kir themselves would do that work underground and they did it free of charge and it was as you can imagine a backbreaking and messy business but the only cost was a very enjoyable occasion a cream tea on the back lawn and uh I was sitting there as I am now having done none of the work but the members of kir with Mike clinch among them and his wife Barbara whom we also remember today as we give Thanksgiving for Mike's life we remember Barbara and the family uh they were there that afternoon and um they and feter and Phyllis looking very uh um should we call it triumphant at what had been affected so that the waters could run again and we remember all that today but it we we Compass it also with the enormous love of this place with so many have and what they offer is so often offered in skills through the relationships which we build up and we give thanks for that relationship which continues of course with kir and the Kent archaeological Society but with so many other parts of Kent and we um give glad tribute today for Mike's work and the work of kir before we start our prayers also I just wanted to mark up a sadness because the last deams store uh closed and after 240 years and it's almost like a sign of the end of that kind of department store which was so much part of life but as the people on the um BBC this morning were saying workers who'd given their life to the demam stores in Great loyalty through their life were saying in the end the effect of online buying and covid uh the pandemic that has ended that part of life which was so much taken for granted in the past so all those things we remember as we say our prayers with Thanksgiving on this Saturday morning the Saturday following Ascension Day and turn to our Book of 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 Allelujah 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 today 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 as 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 our Psalm on this 15th morning of the month is Psalm 77 I cry aloud to God I cry aloud to God and he will hear me in the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord by night my hand is stretched out and does not TI my soul refus his comfort I think upon God and I groan I Ponder and my spirit faints you will not let my eyelids close I am so troubled that I cannot speak I can consider the days of old I remember the years long past I commune with my heart in the night my spirit searches for understanding will the Lord cast us off forever will he no more show us his favor has his loving Mercy clean Gone Forever has his promise come to an end forever more has God forgotten to be gracious has he shut up his compassion in displeasure and I said my grief is this that the right hand of the most high has lost its strength I will remember the works of the Lord and call to mind your wonders of old time I will meditate on all your works and Ponder your Mighty Deeds your way oh God is Holy who is so great a God is our God you are The God Who works wonders and declared your power among the peoples with a mighty arm you redeemed your people the children of Jacob and Joseph the waters saw you oh God the waters saw you and were afraid the depths also were troubled the clouds poured out water the skies thundered your arrows flashed on every side the voice of your thunder was in the Whirlwind your Lightnings lit up the ground the Earth trembled and shook your way was in the sea and your paths in the Great Waters but your footsteps were not known you led your people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron so we're turning to St Matthew's gospel again for our regular reading from there we've had two special days when we've not been with Matthew but today we're back where we left off and we're beginning to read in chapter 8 at Verse 18 now when Jesus saw a crowd around him he gaves orders to go over to the other side of the lake and a scribe came up to him and said to him teacher I will follow you wherever you go and Jesus said to him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head another of the disciples said to him Lord let me first go and bury my Father and Jesus said to him follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead and when Jesus got into the boat his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by the waves but he was asleep and they went and woke him saying save us Lord we are perishing and he said to them why are you afraid oh you of little faith then he rose and rebuked the winds and the Sea and there was a great calm and they marveled saying what sort of man is this that even winds and sea obey him and when he came to the other side to the country of the gines two demon-possessed men met him coming out of the Tomb so Fierce that no one could pass that way and behold they cried out what have you to do with us oh son of God have you come here to torment us before the time now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them and the demons begged him saying if you cast us out send us away into the herd of pigs and he said to them go so they came and went into the pigs and behold the whole herd rushed down the Steep Bank into the sea and drowned in the waters the herdsmen fled and going into the city they told everything especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men and old all the city came out to meet Jesus and when they saw him They begged him to leave their region well here's a collection of stories as recounted by Matthew all collected together and I would ask you perhaps to find the same stories in Mark's gospel and what you will find is much more detail not so many stories collected together but also a very different atmosphere Jesus here is surrounded by crowds yes that happens in St Mark as well Jesus here is also on the Lakeside that happens in St Mark as well but other things are different for in St Mark's gospel short quick going fast but full of little details the stories are somehow longer and more personal Matthew includes much teaching that he's gathered together but he is speaking to his own community in a particular way and arranging things in a particular way and a lot of the little details are to him unnecessary what is necessary is that they should see the power of the Creator made human in Jesus with the same kind of power and have faith in it and as we've said Matthew is speaking very much to a Jewish set of Christians greek-speaking Christians uh probably in Syria but later on than mark and the special quality of Matthew here isn't in the material he's using he's using Mark's material as Luke will use Mark's material but he's actually pruning it as he goes through he prunes it of hostility to start with so that at the moment as we read the Matthew gospel that there isn't a buildup of hostility from those in Authority from the Jewish authorities whereas in St Mark's gospel that happens almost from the beginning nor is is there any mention of things being on the Sabbath day or Jesus breaking the Sabbath law to cause that hostility that may come but for the moment Matthew is wanting in this second part of his gospel the second narrative which is about miracle and healing he wants people to see how the crowds were AED by the miraculous nature of Jesus as Messiah and it's not only the crowds it's also the group of disciples as yet undefined we haven't had the 12 named we've seen the call of Peter and Andrew and James and John we've seen how they followed immediately and there is a sense of everything happening now and some of the stories are quite Stark as to when the two give their excuses for not following now and when the matter happens now some sh so that the one who is a scribe who addresses Jesus as teacher did dascal and he was wanting to follow and then uh he is set back by the fact that this has to happen without Earthly Comforts Jesus looking around foxes have holes birds of the air have nests are you ready for the fact that the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and the answer is clearly no and then to the one who comes up with the excuse you know I i' really got to look after my parents I was leave it until I've I've buried my Father and Jesus says this is now are you ready for that and the answer is no things tend to in couples in Matthew's gospel and if they're not in couples in Mark Matthew makes it so so that when we get across the lake we will find two men possessed of demons but the story is much shorter but for the moment let's go onto the lake for here is the great storm at sea and Jesus's ability to create Tranquility for often what is happening creates a stir such a stir as later will cause a tragedy in the the lake itself but for the moment Jesus is there saying to the disciples as he did in Mark's gospel let's go across the lake meaning let's have some time together very different in Mark and in Mark we hear that Jesus then went into the stern of the boat that's not there in Matthew and was asleep on a cushion Mark lovely details back to the text and those little details give us a picture picture and the picture of the storm brewing and the disciples wake Jesus and they say Lord save us not dascal not teacher even though they're disciples but Kira in the vocative tense Kira Lord save us recognizing Jesus's power but not yet AED by the power to create calm and Jesus's answer to them is one of Matthew's favorite words olop pisto in Greek oh ye of little faith we might translate it and I think it's done in a very affectionate way because when it comes and sometimes it's in the singular as to when Peter is walking on the water towards him and begins to sink and you get the same Lord save me and Jesus says to him ol pisto pist in that that way the vocative just just a Peter singular uh little Fai I see that as the way in which which we might say I don't know what words you use but all of us have words of friendship when someone to us is being a bit silly because the the answer is evident um I might say look you clot to somebody look there's the and it's not an insult it's it's look see see this as you're able to see it and embrace it in that way I think of actually um um uh Fletcher when feeding um Leo and Lily and and both bows of food are there and Leo is meowing and meowing because Lily is eating the food and and feter will say to him you dumbo your food is back there and that is what orap pist Day means to Peter and to the and to the to the men in the boat oh you little faith just embrace the faith see God's fullness of faith that he's able to give you and embrace it and have courage It's a Wonderful word oliga pisto oh ye of little faith we use all those words to say the same thing and I put about 10 exclamation marks after the word because Jesus is I think smiling to the disciples it may be a dangerous moment to them it's not a dangerous moment for him the SE calm and they find themselves on the other side and there again there is disturbance read the story in Mark and see how Jesus makes the relationship with the one possessed person in St Mark's gospel the man's name is Legion Jesus asks his name and then he realizes that's not his name at all it's what people have called him because they think he's possessed by so many devils and Jesus heals him and the commotion that Legion has caused by calling out at Jesus frightens the pigs you've seen how that happens they scatter and a tragedy occurs and that some of the pigs are drowned but at the same time and we've got to be very gentle with God's creatures but at the same time there's an immediacy to what is going on back to the immediacy of the two calls where one is claiming oh my family I'm looking after my family we have no idea whether the the person's father was dead or or or not but we can see that it's a resistance to the now that Jesus is is calling the person to as to the resistance to the loss of human Comforts that the Scribe is is not really going to be very used to and here we are again where the people when they come don't really want this the pigs are there as a sign that this is a foreign land they've crossed the lake and there are there are in in mainly Gentile country by then that the Jewish country wouldn't be keeping herds of pigs they would to them be unclean animals but Clemy to me is a a lovely friend here and uh we have to be gentle or or there's a panic um you w you won't have seen the Panic earlier on when Leo came and uh we were just going to begin and realized he realized that it was a day when the pigs would be here uh and I'm afraid he he took off and but these things happen we have to be gentle with animals as we go through well um then we come to that point where their reaction to Jesus is please go away because we really don't want this disturbance and see what you've done so they get back into the boat and we'll leave that just there because Matthew has shown us that he is doing all this for a particular reason but his call to us is Embrace Faith with courage and realize its Dimensions because otherwise you will be oligo ye of little faith and you're being silly because there's so so much more you can claim from your heavenly Father and Jesus is there to show what can be claimed but the offer is now always now when the moment comes and it will be different each day different moments to be claimed so let's give thanks for Matthew's Insight in this way and the way in which he teaches all of this and we can go on with that on Monday because Sunday tomorrow will give us uh special lessons again but let's just think one or two things about today's date the 15th of May in 1800 in uh on this day King George III who was known as farmer George because he delighted in keeping a farm himself and and uh any anyone who came with some kind of agricultural invention or new discovery was was Gris to the mill of the king he he he uh uh escaped two assassination attempts on this day May the 15th in 1800 one of them in the JW Lane theater when someone someone shot at him but missed the man James Hatfield was was excused because of insanity and so there was uh a probably a a pretty uh pretty brutal caring of him as someone who was uh thought to be insane at that time but there was no execution of James handfield and the King survived both attempts 1858 on this day the present Royal opera house at Cent Garden opened and we give thanks that theaters and also places like our own Cathedral be open to visitors as from Monday and we're all set to receive visitors in this way it's a lovely thing that we can begin to be hospitable again with all the restrictions of the pandemic keeping each other safe for each other's welfare wanted to say that um two things in 1740 Ephraim Chambers the English encyclopedist died and in 1895 on this day Joseph Whitaker the English publisher of Whitaker's Almanac died all those books we used to have to sift through but how things online like Wikipedia have changed all that and so at the flick of a button the facts come up before us we live a very different privileged life and uh that is something that those two dates tell us and then on this day also in 1921 the British Legion was formed that is the United Kingdom's leading Armed Forces charity and we give thanks for it looking after those who have been affected and their families as the results of Wars present and past 1995 the British police Federation voted against the routine arming of police officers with guns there's been a long long tradition that ordinary police officers do not carry guns in uh United Kingdom and the police Federation voted against that in 1995 if armed police are necessary then armed police are sent for and are present at areas where they're thought to be necessary but largely speaking the police force go without um arms and then in 1886 and this is a nice thing and we won't dwell much on it except for one particular thing because we've dealt with her quite a lot in the last year Emily Dickinson died in Amherst Massachusetts I've got one poem of Emily Dickinson I wanted to read with you today that rather introvert but lovely poet um and uh we remember her with enormous Thanksgiving but there is a poem a short poem where she sees herself as someone who is drunk with all that the spring and summer in its Blossom and massive creative generosity is giving her and she Embraces it and she Likens herself to a a bee drunk with everything it's cting in a Fox Glove head uh and and a butterfly just just being tipsy almost because they've gained so much but she she says is so drunk with the sun and the summer and the and the spring and its freshness and all of that that seraphim and Saints are opening the windows of heaven and peering over the white clouds and being glad with her at this little tipler's drunkenness with the Summer's warmth and sunshine and Light here's the poem I taste a liquor never brewed from tankers scooped in Pearl not all the Frankfurt berries yield such an alcohol inebriate of air am I and deot of dew reeling through Endless Summer days from ins of molten blue when landlords turn the drunken bee out of the fox gloves door when butterflies renounce their dram I shall but drink them all till seraps swing their snowy hats and Saints to Windows run to see the little tipler leaning against the sun lovely poem and so much wonderful imagery of heaven and of Earth on this day when we're invited by Matthew to embrace faith and not be those of little faith let's say our prayers then on this particular morning and we are praying for Justin our Archbishop of course and for the uh dasis of Central busoga in the Church of the province of Uganda but also for our own dasis in its prayerful watching and waiting for the coming of the day of Pentecost and contemplating the gifts of the Spirit offered by the Creator we use the prayer for this time Grant we pray almighty God that as we believe your only begotten son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens so we in heart and mind may also Ascend and with him continually dwell who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God now and forever amen so we say each in our own language the prayer are savior 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 to the sound of B Harry ringing for matins in the Cathedral on this Saturday morning bit later on a Saturday [Music] morning the God of Peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep by the blood of the Eternal Covenant make you 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 upon those whom you love and Those whom you would pray for today and always amen so I must leave you and follow the machins Bell to say machins with the members of the chapter and those who will join us on this morning in the cathedral itself