good evening and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this evening of may the 29th of friday evening just before the weekend of pentecost but as i said to you this morning if you were at morning prayer with me this 29th of may is a really important day for canterbury because on this day the 29th of may 1982 pope john paul ii came on what was a pilgrimage what he called a pastoral visit to canterbury the first holy father to do so since the reformation and the iconic photograph of him kneeling with the archbishop of canterbury robert ranci in the chapel of the martyrdom of saint thomas beckett at the altar of the sword point lighting a candle for modern martyrs is one that is part of the crucial history of this place this place of pilgrimage so we shall think a bit about that in our reflection and continue to do so tomorrow morning as well as morning prayer for now we begin even song and feel welcome wherever you are in the world oh lord open thou our lips and our mouth shall show forth thy praise oh god make speed to save us o lord make haste to help us glory be to the father unto the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen praise ye the lord the lord's name be praised psalm for this 29th evening of the month psalm 143 hear my prayer oh lord and consider my desire hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness sake and enter not into judgment with thy servants for in thy sight shall no man living be justified for the enemy hath persecuted my soul has smitten my life down to the ground has laid me in the darkness as those that have been long dead therefore is my spirit vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate yet do i remember the time past i muse upon all thy works ye i exercise myself in the works of thy hands i stretch forth my hands unto thee my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land hear me o lord and that soon for my spirit waxes faint hide not thy face from me lest i be like unto them that go down into the pit oh let me hear thy loving kindness be times in the morning for in thee is my trust show thou me the way that i should walk in for i lift up my soul unto thee teach me to do the thing that pleases me for thou art my god let thy loving spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness quicken me o lord for thy name's sake and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble reading this afternoon a lesson from the fourth chapter of the first letter of st john beginning at the seventh verse beloved let us love one another for love is from god and whoever loves has been born of god and knows god anyone who does not love does not know god because god is love in this the love of god was made manifest among us that god sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him in this is love not that we have loved god but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins beloved if god so loved us we also ought to love one another no one has ever seen god if we love one another god abides in us and his love is perfected in us by this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world whoever confesses that jesus is the son of god god abides in him and he in god so we have come to know and to believe the love that god has for us god is love and whoever abides in love abides in god and god abides in him by this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love we love because he first loved us if anyone says i love god and hates his brother he is a liar for he who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love god whom he has not seen and this commandment we have from him whoever loves god must also love brother and sister john paul ii had been pope for only four years when he came here he had taken over from john paul the first after that very short papacy and had come all unexpectedly from poland bringing a new dimension to the office and almost at once he began to travel it became something that people grew used to to see him coming down the steps of an aircraft and standing on the tarmac of an airport somewhere in the world and kneeling to kiss the ground of that nation as if to embrace the whole community men women and children in his brotherly love for brother and sister wherever he was going it was a powerful icon and it must have been the most wonderful thing that he decided on his pastoral visit not state visit but pastoral visit to england to come here and arrive on the monday after pentecost the 29th of may in 1982 with archbishop robert ranci to be the guest of dean victor davao here in canterbury a wonderful occasion many many people and in the focus of all that a loving greeting to this place i talked at the beginning about the icon of kneeling and lighting candles for those who had been martyred in his own lifetime modern martyrs we have a chapel of modern martyrs but also lest we ever forget the date of that visit the lovely statue of our lady of canterbury mary carrying the infant jesus in the chapel of our lady undercroft which was created by sister concordia at that time bears on its base the date of that visit the 29th of may 1982. he came and prayed at the altar and gave an embrace to the archbishop and held in his hands the gospels which his predecessor in 597 had sent with augustine here so gregory the great sent those gospels which we were thinking about in our morning prayers only this week and they came from the library of rome in 595 and traveled with augustine across europe with one or two halts and arrived here and on the 29th of may pope john paul ii standing in front of the high altar of canterbury cathedral took them in his hands all of those things are memories just as the psalm says remembrance of things past but as we remember things past if they are good things and encouraging things then they help us towards the future and that is a a wonderful thing if this lockdown has given us anything it has given us time to think i've had messages from so many friends as the months have gone on say i came across this in my house and it reminded me of you i send you this memory from long past maybe before they haven't had time to do that or haven't been in their homes so much but we've all had a little of that sometimes the thoughts are very cheerful and encouraging sometimes they're thoughts of regret sometimes it's a regret of why did i lose touch with that person but hearing the letter of sin john read and thinking of that journey of pope john paul ii at that time gives us the sense of journeying through time it was an encouragement to us all as we watched that on our television sets at that time a long time ago now but the memory is bright and fresh in the minds of those who were here who welcomed him on that day our own prince of wales was here to welcome him here in the deanery to hospitality as were many many others and i give thanks for that occasion for it was one footstep along the road to ecumenical brotherly and sisterly worshiping together and being jesus in his world tomorrow i shall welcome virtually pilgrims from churches in emsworth they come from different denominations but one of the churches a catholic church is dedicated to saint thomas of canterbury and the anglican church to sin thomas becket there's a canterbury connection but the real connection is with all of them but of course they're not coming physically because they can't and so in their homes each have walked every day since the 1st of may the 10 000 paces that it would have taken them to walk here from the 1st of may to the 30th of may they have covered the distance physically and virtually i shall congratulate them as pilgrims journeying and in heart and mind and soul they've done that together across the divisions of the christian church and across the divisions of the lockdown the visit of that strong young pope at that time was an encouragement the virtual visit of strong pilgrims of different denominations of christianity is a great encouragement but then we're able to do that for one another even in lockdown and we're also able to use the memories of the past to prepare for the future whatever that meant may look like when all this is over i'm going to say the magnificat mary's song of obedience my soul doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my saviour for he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generation shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations he has shared strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he remembering his mercy hath opened his servant israel as he promised to our forefathers abraham and his seed forever glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen so let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us together in whatever language we would normally use we say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen o lord share thy mercy upon us and grant us thy salvation o lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon thee and do thy ministers with righteousness and make thy chosen people joyful o lord save thy people and blessing inheritance give peace in our time o lord because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou o god oh god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us oh god the king of glory who has exalted thine only son jesus christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven we beseech thee leave us not comfortless but send to us thine holy ghost to comfort us and exalt us unto the same place whether our savior christ has gone before who liveth and reigneth with thee in the holy ghost one god world without end amen oh god from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works to proceed give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of jesus christ our savior amen lighten our darkness we beseech thee oh lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only son our savior jesus christ amen we keep silence for a moment and make our own prayers at this evening hour for those whom we love and those for whom we would desire to pray [Music] may christ who ascended into the heavens as king of kings and lord of lords fill you with the grace and gifts of his holy spirit the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon all whom you would pray for this night and always amen