good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of friday the 11th of march as we come to say our morning prayers welcome wherever you are in the world but our prayers of course are concentrating on the situation of the people in ukraine at this time but we're looking at a a vas of pink hyacinths and green leaves the colors green and pink for hospices of hope and the hospices of hope movement are having a call to prayer day we found this morning from anna paroles their chief executive that they have a strong connection with the children's character on children's television bagpus who was a saggy cloth cat and was pink and white and that pink goes into the color of hospices of hope we'll explain the connection in more detail later but we don't have a pink cat but we have pink hyacinths and green leaves and we have one of our cats here who is our lovely tiger representing bagpus for us this morning and we'll see what part bagpus plays in hospices of hope when we come to our reflection for the moment let's begin our prayers on this day and bring your own intentions and your own concerns as we begin morning prayer for a lenten friday oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice o lord according to your faithful love according to your judgment give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your praise 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 o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm this morning on the 11th morning of the month is psalm 56 have mercy on me oh god for they trample over me all day long they assault and oppress me my adversaries trample over me all the day long many are they that make proud war against me in the day of my fear i put my trust in you in god whose word i praise in god i trust and will not fear for what can flesh do to me all day long they wound me with words their every thought is to do me evil they stir up trouble they lie in weight marking my steps they seek my life shall they escape for all their wickedness in anger oh god cast the peoples down you have counted up my groaning put my tears into your bottle are they not written in your book then shall my enemies turn back on the day when i call upon you this i know for god is on my side in god whose word i praise in the lord whose word i praise in god i trust and will not fear what can flesh do to me to you o god will i fulfill my vows to you when i present my offerings of thanks for you will deliver my soul from death and my feet from falling that i may walk before god in the light of the living the psalm is a cry of one in great danger and we remember those in great danger not only in ukraine but right across the world who are still trying to fulfill their vows to god most high and put their trust in god [Music] so let's turn to our lesson from st john's gospel and we are in chapter six as you will remember from yesterday and we left jesus with his disciples but jesus has gone up onto the mountain again after the feeding of the five thousand and he is by himself we said the mountain is the sign of climbing up into a spiritual dimension of eternal things and if you like he's gone to recharge some of the energy that is always being taken out of him but the disciples have gone down the mountain back to the lake in order to row to the other side of the lake coming down or you want to stay up there um and at this point he jesus himself is high on the mountain and looking down onto the lake below the disciples get into the boat and we see what happens where it's verse 16 of chapter six of saint john's gospel come on good boy there we are ah that's what you want [Music] when evening came jesus disciples went down to the lake got into a boat and started across the lake to capernaum it was now dark and jesus had not yet come to them the lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing when they had rode about three or four miles they saw jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat and they were frightened but he said to them it is i do not be afraid then they were glad to take him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going on the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there and that jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples but that his disciples had gone away alone other boats from tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the lord had given thanks so when the crowd saw that jesus was not there nor his disciples they themselves got into the boats and went to capernaum seeking jesus when they found him on the other side of the lake they said to him rabbi when did you come here jesus answered them truly truly i say to you you are seeking me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life which the son of man will give to you for on him god the father has set his seal i'm going to finish that lesson there which is our portion for today and continue tomorrow but let's think about what is happening there in this lesson first jesus on the mountain he has climbed up to retrieve that silence that quiet that time with the father which we see him taking from time to time often it's interrupted often he's discovered by the crowds and always when that happens he turns his attention to them his prime intention is to give them shall we say compassionate answers and compassionate treatment he's wanting always to push them beyond the physical the signs into what the sign is pointing to and that is the dimension of the gift which the father the creator is willing to give them that is the evangel which is handing on in fragments at the moment to his disciples yesterday they they gathered 12 fragments baskets of fragments of what had happened at the feeding of the 5000 and so being given pieces of a wonderful jigsaw which will they will then begin to put together but they have to wait to see where each piece fits and all of that is happening and now jesus has gone by himself to the mountaintop and sent the disciples on ahead in the boat but the moment they're alone and they're in turbulent waters and waters in the scriptures can sometimes mean wonderful things and refreshment and baptism and all sorts of lovely new beginnings or they can mean a threat to life as in the great flood in the old testament or the bringing of dry land out of the the deep in genesis chapter one and here now the the waters are threatening to overwhelm their life and they're rowing hard against the waters and then in their fear they see jesus and perceive him coming towards them and the moment they recognize jesus in this situation their hearts are glad and immediately they find themselves having received him at the place where they wanted to be but we can treat that geographically physically in whatever way you like but here's another sign and some people add that as one of the signs together with the feeding of the five thousand others make it a separate sign but we'll look at the signs later when we're counting them and and seeing how people receive them for the moment let's think how this sudden awareness that jesus is there with you and walking towards you in the dangerous situation brings gladness and we hear immediately they find themselves at the place they wanted to be and there the crowds find them and once again jesus has to give to the crowds some kind of of sustenance and he's wanting to do it not in the bread of the physical life but in what that bread represents of nourishment with the gospel itself [Music] and we get another of those statements where jesus is saying listen to me truly truly i say to you or very truly i say to you in the old way verily verily i say to you that means listen hard you should be looking for the bread which gives you eternal life that which the father sends and the earthly bread is simply a sign of that we call it a sacramental sign because it's something physical but at the same time it's speaking of eternal truths and eternal gifts and things which will not fail ever in all eternity the presence of jesus already there in earthly things but he's wanting them to perceive it and most of all he's wanting his disciples to perceive it let's then think of the uh day of prayer for hospices of hope it's a wonderful collection of words really because hospices are a place where wonderful palliative care is given to those whose life normally is is coming to an end and the palliative care and the wonderful staff who are trained in palliative care know how to give that life quality every day [Music] we have some children who are terminally ill so they have cancer but many of the children we look after have what we call life-limiting illnesses such as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy and it's um a real privilege to be able to change their lives for the better and give them hope and give them comfort hospices of hope is a uk-based charity but our mission is to take hospice care to the poor resource countries of southeast europe we started in romania and has since expanded to serbia and the republic of moldova probably what moved me in the first place was coming to a hospital in romania in in 1990 and seeing a young man die in terrible pain and i always look back to that situation and feel that's what really moved me to try and do something here they gave me more than hope they gave me a reason to want to do better and more in my life for me and for everyone else in my condition i am hospice patients about 10 years hospice for me is everything hospice is my family hospice is where he where it is because of graham but also because of some wonderful people which are also the heart and the engine of hospice when i think of hospice i think about him and how he always tries to make everyone's lives better the heart of this hospice is love the people who have big hearts and i think they feel it's a privilege to bring some ray of hope into these children's lives and it's that training to hospital teams that haven't received palliative care training that the trained teams of hospices of hope have been giving in southeastern europe in nations but now they've opened that special appeal for ukraine and we were talking to anna paroles this morning the chief executive of uh hospices of hope and as we talked to her the connections with canterbury began to come out but also her passion for something which her father graham started in 1991 he founded that organization founded it here in kent to start with with a kent based hospice here locally and uh in in memory of his own parents graham started it in memory of his parents ellen and norman because he didn't want other families to go through what what he had had to go through in watching his father come to the end of his life he wanted to give them help proper help trained help palliative care and when all that then come to a fruition then at that time he felt that kent was well resourced locally to care for its hospices and of course we do and every every sunday morning we put out the the eggs and say to people take as many eggs as you like from our hen houses and give as generously as you can both to porchlight which is a homeless charity and to the hospices that's the local hospices here but at the same time at that moment the attention of hospices of hope moved to southeastern europe and anna told how she herself told us this morning how she herself went to romania to work at the hospice in 2009 and it was a life-changing experience and one that she will never forget and is is immensely grateful for hence her being now chief executive of this wonderful organization which is setting out on this ukrainian adventure as well and the call to prayer is undergirding everything and we will put on the the screen the 12 points to pray for hourly and there's that gives a rhythm of prayer and you can use it whenever you like across the world it doesn't have to be the 12 hours of today some of you won't be watching this till tomorrow this is a call to prayer for the life of the hospice and ana said it it it finds its its beginning in psalm 62 find rest o my soul in god alone my hope comes from him he alone is my rock and my salvation he is my fortress i shall not be shaken 12 hours of arrow prayers just once an hour and at the same time that rhythm of of of life is something that is given to those who are needing that palliative care here are the points for prayer on the first hour we pray for the teams in each area as they try to support refugees with accommodation and medical supplies alongside their continued work second hour the team at copuccini as the center is being used by refugees mainly mothers with children third hour for those in senior positions in romania and moldova having to make swift and humanitarian decisions the fourth hour for the physical and emotional well-being of the teams as they offer support and aid to refugees the fifth hour for the senior management and the wider team in the united kingdom as they support the teams and offer support from afar the sixth hour for financial aid to be used wisely and reach the people who need it the seventh hour for the teams in moldova and romania who feel under threat with the future landscape unknown eights are for a clear and swift resolution and end to the war the ninth hour that refugees fleeing the conflict will find safety and compassion the tenth hour for world leaders to be wise and have good advisors to help them navigate this crisis eleventh hour for the churches in ukraine as they try to stand firm and offer support to those still in ukraine and the twelfth hour that god's power will be revealed within the conflict bringing light in the darkness anna knows and the teams know that we are a worldwide congregation so when we do this over the next day or two it doesn't matter choose your time but just send an arrow prayer up at those hours and come back to find which each hour is as you um intend to do so so we then come to the bankpus connection because uh that is a kent connection and the creators of bagpus who is a an iconic character here in canterbury in kent were oliver postgate and peter furman and they created other characters for children saga of nog in the nong and ivor the engine and the clangers and at the same time this lovely bag puss [Music] once upon a time not so long ago there was a little girl and her name was emily and she had a shop there it is it was rather an unusual shop because it didn't sell anything you see everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost and emily had found and brought home to bagpus emily's cat bagpus the most important [Music] the most beautiful the most magical saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world well now one day emily found a thing and she brought it back to the shop and put it down in front of bagpuss who was in the shop window fast asleep as usual but then emily said some magic words bag puss deer bag puss old fat furry cat puss wake up and look at this thing that i bring wake up be bright be golden and light bag puss so hear what i sing [Music] and bagpuss was wide awake and when bagpuss wakes up all his friends wake up too the mice on the mouse organ woke up and stretched [Music] madeleine the ragdoll gabriel the toad last of all professor yaffle was a very distinguished old woodpecker he climbed down off his book end and went to see what it was that emily had brought [Music] and when uh the the the uh hospice in romania was was uh being formed one of the nurses there was actually i think engaged to the a doctor who was oliver postgate's doctor and so he told oliver postgate about this hospice for children and the palliative care teams going on and oliver postgate replied by saying bagpus has a little pocket of money saved up and has been wanting to spend it on something that will help children and this seems a really really good thing for bagpus to spend his money on now the little pocket of money was a substantial amount and now uh and one remembers that emily thurman was the daughter of peter fuhrman it was emily who loved bagpuss and had the shop in his window bagpus used to lie and sleep but the wonderful thing is it's just outside our mint yard gate and uh as you turn the corner into palace street is just there and it's called cosmo china canterbury these days which is still run by the fermin family um but uh it meant that there was enough money to build a bagpus wing for children at the hospice there in romania and so we give thanks for the way in which a children's character can then inspire others to give really uh sacrificially and when um oliver postscape both oliver and peter have now died but there's a legacy from the the bagpus inheritance still going to the uh hospice there so um that's a bagpus story for children and emily i think is to the trustee of the charity so let's go to another point last night i found myself going to a really enjoyable occasion because our junior school the kings junior school in sturry performed the wizard of oz and i went down to follow the yellow brick road with them and it was really the most wonderful occasion the children really threw themselves into it that wonderful story with songs which all of us really knew and could have joined in with and clapped our hands in rhythm from time to time as they went up the yellow brick road and it reminded me of that story which actually of course is best known to us because not of the original novel which was published by written by frank baum in 1900 but because of the film that was made in 1939 with judy garland as dorothy and that became very very popular not first in cinemas but later when in 1956 it was broadcast on television and it's now become we know this uh from the library of congress's uh statistics the most watched movie of all time i think most of us know it in a great way and it's the story of first of all dorothy singing that song because she's she is thinking of a land where there is no suffering and where people aren't hurt and you remember in at home she lives with aunt em and uh uncle henry on a farm in kansas and with three farm workers zeke and hunk and hickory and then there is a uh what she sees a cruel old lady who seems heartless down the road he's very rich miss almira gulch and because she tends to sort of kick um dorothy's uh uh little cairns terrier toto out of the way toto buys a leg and uh miss gulch comes with the sheriff in an order to have toto put down and dorothy runs away from home do you remember that and then that lovely song somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and all of those things are sung in the film in a sepia tint and in getting back home dorothy is caught up in the tornado aunt em and uncle henry by then have given her up because she's run away from home they don't know where she is but they have to go with zeke and hunk and hickory down into the shelter and close the lid and dorothy is left when she comes home to lie on her bed and the the tornado takes the house and she bangs her head and then suddenly she wakes seemingly in a completely different world and there she finds herself and the the marvelous thing about the film do you remember it's in black and white till then with a sight sepia tint and then suddenly it's in glorious technicolor and one is in the land of the munchkins and uh the the wicked witch of the east it becomes very uh very very symbolic of his voice it's been killed by dorothy's house falling on her quite accidentally as far as dorothy is concerned but the red shoes which he wears which are are full of magic become doris's and all of that you you know this story we can't tell every detail of it but the songs as they go along become the uh dorothy trying to find a way home and she has toto her dog with us all the time and last night there was the most fetching puppet as as toto who followed dorothy around and you forgot the puppeteer as it's done in this way so this wonderful cairns terrier running around with dorothy won all hearts but dorothy is wanting to go home and she's told that she must go to see the wizard because the wonderful wizard of oz will know how to get her home and as they go along the yellow brick road she says how do i know how to get you follow the yellow brick road so we're on a journey all of this is like a parable and on the way she meets first of all the scarecrow and remember the scarecrow is thinking that he's got no brains and he sings that song about what would happen if he had brains i would while away the flowers conferring the hours conferring with the flowers if i only had a brain and so he goes along with dorothy along and toto along the yellow brick road and the children were loving all of this and dorothy was the most superb singer and actress in all of this but as they walked along they met then the tin man who'd rusted over long back by a storm of rain and they found his oil can and it was played marvelously by a boy who was playing tin man and then he began to move but he felt himself to be empty and he didn't have a heart i've got our song book here the wizard of oz from the piano and it's another of those that we'd like to see particularly of course somewhere over the rainbow but as they go along each of the people have a different song and the tin man says when a man's an empty kettle he should be on his metal and yet i'm torn apart just because i'm presuming that i could be kind of human if i only had a heart so the the scarecrow is wanting brains the tin man is wanting a heart and you remember that they then meet a really cowardly lion who keeps wiping his eyes from fear with his tail and if the lion wants courage and the song goes if i only had the nerve but off they go to find the wizard following the yellow brick road and eventually when that they're plagued by the wicked witch of the west who is left because the east and west they're south and north and their good witches and east and west are bad witches and west keeps plaguing them with our flying monkeys as well who do untold damage and are threatening them all the way but as they get farther and farther on there becomes the great uh they have to have their courage as they go along they meet many adventures on the yellow brick road but they get finally to great oz and this enormous face greets them and says to them i will grant your wishes if you bring me the broom of the witch of the west terrifying prospect and of course you know that in fact they manage it and come back and it's at that point that oz is confounded because toto runs behind the screen and finds that the wizard is all a sham and outsteps an elderly man who says to them you don't need my help with this all that you need is already inside you and what you're missing is something which releases that and so he says to the first of all uh to the scarecrow you've got brains in there realize that they're there but to help you realize it you're missing a diploma so he pulls out a diploma and gives it to the scarecrow as a sign that the gifts are already there and then to the tin man what you are missing is the recognition of the fact that you have a heart you do care for people it's already there but what you need is a testimonial to your charitable work and to the fact that you care about other people so here was the testimonial and everyone clapped and then to the lion your courage is already inside you and it's there waiting to be released but what you need is a medal to show that people recognize your courage say he pins the medal on the lion and the lion very proudly and you can see that these people are awaking to the fact that the gifts are already inside them and then um they have the sense of the wicked witch of the west having been defeated by in fact strangely when she tried to set the scarecrow on fire and dorothy threw a bucket of water over her and the water just melts the wicked witch away but when the wizard says i don't know how to get you home because that's a very difficult prospect and then the um the the good witch linda arrives and says you've already got that with you just tap the heels of your red shoe and she does and she and toto wake up in kansas and what do they find there that all the people they've been with in that technicolored wonderland which was over the rainbow are actually the characters who are already around them aunt em uncle henry and zeke and hunk and hickory and uh um uh aunt em was was wonderfully played uh by martha lee pemberton whose grandmother we were talking about i think the day before yesterday when we first introduced hospices of hope lady kingston was one of the who introduced us to hospices of hope so she'd been there the night before to see her granddaughter play as so many parents were there proud parents but the children were actually giving us the message that saint john's gospel wants to give us all the way through and jesus is trying to give his disciples the pieces are there already inside you all around receive the gift and then that gift can be used here down here as we say in that on that plane for the welfare and and compassion of people in the world as jesus showed in his human life but also it's a gift that stretches out to eternity it's not a yellow brick road that's simply a sign it's actually followers of the way which is what christians were called in the beginning so i had an enjoyable night but also found the children singing and telling and acting me a parable and we were very proud of them too so let's then say our prayers on this morning and pray for hospices of hope but also pray for children the world over and their ability sometimes to see things in a way that adults can't and see deep into the meaning of things bring your own intentions and prayers and as we're praying across the world today we're praying on the 11th of march for in the anglican communion the diocese of kilmore elfin and ardar in the church of ireland the armar province the diocese is giving us general prayers so there's no parish to pray for today but there is uh archbishop justin and also bishop rose of dover and emma bishop at lambeth to pray for pray for your own christian leaders and also for all people in positions of authority at this difficult time and look at the intentions of hospices of hopes call to prayer as well here's the colic for today almighty god whose son jesus christ fasted 40 days in the wilderness and was tempted as we are yet without sin give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your spirit and as you know our weakness so may we know your power to save through jesus christ our lord amen the collect for lent itself almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so together the prayer our savior taught us in whichever language you like to 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 amen moment of reflection now for you on this morning [Music] there are times in life when we go through situations it may seem like complications or it may be tribulations as it keeps you up at night you are looking for the bigger picture so you open up the scripture and here's what you see inside just like years ago the disciples were rolling on a boat traveling through the ocean and they called unto jesus when the waters was blowing and he showed them the impossible [Music] [Applause] jesus loves the storms [Music] he can do anything he stops the storm jesus stops to start you may see a mountain and you may see a wall or maybe it's a giant storm that is rushing down your way so you widen up your eyes you're searching for survival you dig into the bible and here's what you see inside just like years ago the disciples were roaring on a boat traveling through the ocean and they called unto jesus when the waters was blowing and he [Music] [Music] jesus stops the story he can do anything for me [Music] we can do anything he can do anything [Music] [Music] there is nothing that is he can do can do anything [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] he can do anything he can do anything [Music] christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him 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 it does us good to remember that all time is god's time so don't be in the least bit concerned if the times that you're saying that those prayers for the hospices of hope are different from the times here remember the present tense of jesus arriving at the disabled disciples fear not it is i the presence of jesus all the time god's time being our time and uh already we've had from anna the way in which your contributions from across the world have really boosted the morale of the staff and the teams in uh those lands around ukraine and the teams working in ukraine as well so thank you for that already but please keep praying strongly because that really is the undergirding as we use that word of all the work being done so we're going to leave our own bagpuss here thank you for acting bagpus this morning and the pink and green of the hospices of hope colors you're going to fall off the table if you don't watch it all right good see there we are [Music] now [Music] [Music] [Music] say [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] me [Music] see [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] you