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HYMN 鈥� O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES
O for a thousand tongues, to singmy great Redeemer鈥檚 praise,the glories of my God and king,the triumphs of His grace!Jesus! the name that charms our fears,that bids our sorrows cease;鈥檛is music in the sinner鈥檚 ears,鈥檛is life, and health, and peace.He speaks, and, listening to His voice,new life the dead receive,the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,the humble poor believe.Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb,your loosened tongues employ;ye blind, behold your Saviour come;and leap, ye lame, for joy!My gracious Master and my God,assist me to proclaim,to spread through all the earth abroad,the honours of Thy name.
MargaretGood morning and welcome to the Churchill Hospital, part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We鈥檙e gathered in the foyer of the Cancer Centre, where week by week thousands of patients come and go for treatment with surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy in this highly specialised centre of clinical care.
Today we commemorate the festival of St Luke, patron saint of physicians and one of the gospel-writers, celebrating the integration of medical and spiritual care which is such a powerful expression of Christian good news.聽
The Churchill Hospital was built in the second world war, as a British and American collaboration, to meet the needs of anticipated casualties. It became part of the NHS in 1948, and has grown and expanded to become a major centre of medical excellence. In 2003, the Sir Michael Sobell House Hospice was built on the site, bringing the new resources of palliative care to the city of Oxford. In this fiftieth anniversary year of the hospice movement, we remember particularly all those who care for the dying and their loved ones and families.
Here in Oxford, and throughout our NHS, let us pray today that the light of Christ will bring hope and healing into the darkest of times.
Almighty God,you called Luke the physician,whose praise is in the gospel,to be an evangelist and physician of the soul:by the grace of the Spiritand through the wholesome medicine of the gospel,give your Church the same love and power to heal;through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.

CHOIR: Litany to the Holy Spirit 鈥� Peter Hurford
MargaretPeter Hurford鈥檚 Litany to the Holy Spirit, sung by the Choir of Exeter College.
A famous prayer by Saint Teresa speaks of how all our work of care for one another derives from the rich compassion of Christ.Christ has no body now but yours,no hands, no feet on earth but yours;yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world;yours are the feet with which walks to do good;yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world;Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Fifty years ago, Dame Cicely Saunders began the work of compassion which inspired the modern hospice movement. St Christopher鈥檚 Hospice in Sydenham opened its doors in 1967 as a place of care and refuge for the dying. One of our hospice chaplains, Graham Sykes, reads the story of Cicely Saunders鈥� deeply Christian vision of personal care.聽

Graham鈥榊ou matter,鈥� said Cicely Saunders. 鈥榊ou matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all that we can not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die.鈥�
Cicely Saunders trained first as a social worker, then as a nurse, and finally as a physician. She specialised in caring for those whose illness, usually cancer, was beyond treatment. Her faith, and her care for people at the very end of life, taught her a deep sense of the value and enormous dignity of each human being.
You matter when you are young and in all the fullness of life because you are you. You matter when life is drawing to a close and disease is overtaking you. You matter because you are you, and because you are a beloved child of God in whom God delights.聽
Cicely Saunders鈥� breadth of training and experience opened new doors to the care of the dying, and what is now called 鈥榩alliative care鈥�. She understood that people are not just bodies to be treated medically but that we are whole human beings who have flesh and blood, yes, but also feelings, psychological and emotional needs, social needs and above all spiritual needs. In times of suffering and stress we may struggle in ways which affect our whole being. Pain can be felt physically, spiritually, psychologically and emotionally. She called it 鈥榯otal pain鈥� and for 鈥榯otal pain鈥� you need 鈥榯otal care鈥�.
In this hospital we work as a multi-disciplinary team with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, physio-therapists, occupational therapists, art and music therapists and chaplains, all playing their part in the total care of patients.聽
Fifty years on from Cicely Saunders鈥� pioneering work we still believe that you matter, because you are you! You matter because we believe that you are wondrously made by God and loved by God as his unique and precious child.聽

HYMN 鈥� Make me a channel of your peace
Make me a channel of your peace.Where there is hatred, let me bring your love;where there is injury, your pardon, Lord;and where there's doubt, true faith in you.O Master, grant that I may never seekso much to be consoled as to console;to be understood as to understand;to be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope;where there is darkness, only light;and where there's sadness, ever joy.
Make me a channel of your peace.It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,In giving to us all that we receive,And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

Margaret
鈥榊ou matter because you are you.鈥� Every day in the Churchill hospital, people come for treatment, bringing with them all their hopes and struggles. Working together, staff and volunteers support patients and their families through immensely challenging times.聽
Chaplains bring a special quality of presence for everyone in the hospital. It may be a quiet, reassuring word for someone facing major surgery, or the willingness to sit with a family as they watch and wait with a loved one in the last hours of life. For people who struggle with faith, as well as those who are deeply nourished by prayer and worship, the presence of a chaplain can open up the possibilities of surprising hope and peace.
We are also here for the staff. Around the busy wards, and in the hidden corners of offices and teaching rooms, we bring support and encouragement to frontline clinical staff who feel the pressure of caring day by day under intense pressures.
The whole of life is here, played out on every corridor and at each bedside, as human beings 鈥� both staff and patients 鈥� face the rawness of life in a spirit of courage, compassion, and truly personal care.
Nutrition assistant, Magdalena Fras, and chaplaincy volunteer, Jon Catterall, reflect on the detail and the depth of that personal care on the wards.聽

MagdaEvery day in the hospital people face intensive chemotherapy for different kinds of cancer. I work on the haematology ward giving nutritional support and advice to patients having stem cell transplant. The treatment is very demanding, and our patients need a lot of encouragement to cope with side effects. One of the side effects of chemotherapy is oral mucositis 鈥� which can cause mouth ulcers and pain or difficulty in swallowing.
Eating too little, patients easily lose muscle mass, which can lead to malnutrition. I call into their room to encourage them to drink high-calorie and high-protein milkshakes. We have lots of different flavours, and soothing, chilled drinks that can boost the supply of vital calories and protein.
I remember one of my patients who was very sore with serious mucositis. She couldn't even drink water, because it caused terrible suffering. One day I asked her what she had eaten for breakfast. She answered 鈥� Rice Cereal.聽 That made me very happy: the fact that the situation was improving at last. Just to be sure, I asked her how much of the portion she had eaten. She answered that she'd eaten two Crispies!聽I felt really proud of her, because she was fighting.聽
My work on the haematology ward has taught me it is necessary to be pleased with the least little things, to accept every day with respect, to believe and to struggle on, because faith can work miracles.
MUSIC: Within our darkest night (Taize)

Jon
Once a week I visit the ward as a chaplaincy volunteer. I meet patients who may be in hospital for a short time while others may be longer stay patients having highly specialized surgery. I have no prior knowledge of why a patient is in hospital. We meet and a conversation unfolds. Close listening is very important and the focus is always on the patient.聽
It is a great privilege to have these conversations. Some are life affirming and very positive and I have been fortunate to meet many admirable people. Occasionally the patient may appear to be coping well in hospital but sometimes there is a throwaway line that could be missed.聽
One patient seemed to be recovering well but I nearly missed what he really wanted to talk about: 25 years ago, his six-month-old baby died. He still felt the emotional distress and wanted to talk about the child being in heaven.聽
I have experienced conversation like this on many occasions where the real issues of concern are just below the surface and unrelated to the immediate medical situation. A lady whose husband had died three months earlier was utterly grief-stricken, constantly in tears and having great difficulty responding to the medical treatment. When I gave her time and attention she was able to shed her tears without hurry. She was in a dark place and needed a lot of support.聽
An unexpected terminal diagnosis can be difficult for everyone and the immediate family members may be plunged into grief and regret. Some may put their terminal situation to the back of their mind and be reluctant to think about it, falling back on the fact that they have had a good life whilst at the same time regretting that they may not be around for a family event such as a wedding or the birth of a baby. We can offer prayer, which some accept, but whatever the outcome of our conversations it is possible to assure them that the chaplaincy team is there for them when they want to talk. Perhaps the important thing is to be alongside them.
MUSIC: Within our darkest night (Taize)

MargaretThis morning鈥檚 Bible reading is read by staff nurse Jo Wyatt. St Luke describes a day in the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus.

JoA reading from St Luke鈥檚 gospel, chapter 4.
14 Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:聽
18 鈥淭he Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord鈥檚 favour.鈥�
Later that day, 40 as the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to Jesus; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 Demons also came out of many, shouting, 鈥淵ou are the Son of God!鈥� But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

MUSIC: Be still and know that I am God
Our preacher this morning is Professor John Wyatt, Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, University College London and a member of the ethics advisory committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

ADDRESS 鈥� Prof John Wyatt聽I have had the privilege of working as a doctor within the NHS for many years.聽 Most of my time I have worked as a paediatrician, a baby doctor.聽 And over the years it has been a costly and painful privilege for me to care for many babies who were dying.聽 Babies with severe brain injury, those with severe malformations or those born too early to survive.聽 Many times I have held a tiny body in my arms and wept with parents at the tragedy of a life snuffed out within hours or days of birth.聽
I have no easy answers for the painful realities which many of us face in our lives. There is something deeply mysterious, strange and inexplicable about the suffering which we meet, both in our own lives and in those we are called to help.聽 An anonymous quotation from the hospice movement has been a source of strength and wisdom for me.聽聽
鈥淪uffering is not a question which demands an answer, it鈥檚 not a problem which demands a solution鈥� It鈥檚 a mystery which demands a presence鈥�.
So those of us who are carers are not called to give answers and explanations, we are called to 鈥榖e there鈥�, to be a presence with those who are facing suffering, loss and pain.聽聽
And what we see in the passage from Luke鈥檚 gospel, is that God himself in the person of Jesus came to 鈥榖e there鈥� with the afflicted, the oppressed and the suffering.聽 鈥淎s the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to Jesus; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.鈥澛� Jesus chose to spend his time not with the elite and privileged but with those who suffered from various diseases, those with mental and spiritual anguish, those who were the outcasts of society.聽 And he cared about every aspect of their lives, the physical needs, the psychological anguish, the spiritual despair.聽
Luke鈥檚 Gospel has always had a special place for me because he had a physician鈥檚 eye for the details of the human story, he focussed on the outcasts, the people of no account, the little people who came to Jesus, and the profound and sensitive way in which Jesus cared, the way he was a presence for each one.聽
Time and again Luke and the other Gospel writers went out of their way to show that Jesus was deeply moved and engaged by human suffering.聽 He entered into the experience of others.聽 Luke uses a word splanchnidzomai which means literally that his bowels were moved with compassion.聽 In the literal Greek he was 鈥済utted鈥� by the suffering of others. Another word implies that he was troubled like the swirling of deep waters.聽 Another that he snorted like a horse in anger.
The God who is revealed in Jesus is not a God who gives explanations for the pain 鈥� instead he enters into the experience of suffering.聽 And on the cross he took our pain and guilt and suffering into his own body.聽聽
So we are called to be there with those who suffer.聽 Suffering is a mystery that demands a presence.聽 This was the profound and wonderful vision that Cicely Saunders embodied in her own life and ministry, as she developed a new and compelling way of caring for those with 鈥榯otal pain鈥�.聽 And that life-changing vision of caring for every aspect of a person鈥檚 life right to the end, has spread across the world and is still developing and growing 50 years later.聽
Cicely Saunders taught that we enter into the experience of other people鈥檚 suffering not out of despair but out of hope.聽 聽Because out of the pain in a strange and wonderful way blessing and healing can flow.聽 Dying well can be a strange opportunity.聽 聽It is possible to live a lifetime in a few weeks.聽 With the right kind of expert care so that the dying person is free to be herself, those last days can be the richest experience of all, they can be a time of healing of relationships, fulfilling dreams, learning new lessons, letting go, even a strange kind of adventure.聽
In fact it seems to me that this is the deepest mystery of the Christian faith.聽 Suffering and evil and pain can be transformed, can be redeemed by God鈥檚 grace and turned into something unexpected and wonderful.聽 It seems that God鈥檚 plan for this age is not to abolish human suffering, but to redeem it 鈥� to bring blessing and healing out of evil and pain.聽 This is a deep mystery, but I have experienced it in my own life, and I have seen it in the lives of many others.聽聽
I have come to the conclusion that there is no evil situation, however twisted, however malevolent, however apparently meaningless, which cannot in some sense be transformed by God鈥檚 grace and power into blessing and healing.聽 聽That鈥檚 a statement of faith.聽 I can鈥檛 prove it 鈥揵ut I believe it.聽
But the process of healing, redemption and transformation doesn鈥檛 happen automatically.聽 It requires our willing acceptance and cooperation with God鈥檚 love and power working through the Holy Spirit.
Before I finish I can鈥檛 talk about the mystery of suffering without looking to the future.聽 In Christian thought suffering is always shot through with hope and longing for the future. God鈥檚 plan for this age is not to abolish suffering, but he has promised that one day he will.聽
At the end of the book of Revelation we read these words.聽 鈥淏ehold the dwelling place of God is with man. 鈥β� He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.鈥澛�
I鈥檝e always been struck by this image.聽 This is not a picture of a terrible and fearful holy God. No. This is a mother鈥檚 lap and a child whose face is streaked and blotchy from hours of crying, and gentle fingers are stroking away the tears.聽 This is our God, the motherly father, the one who inspires every gentle and compassionate carer, the one who promises that one day there will be no more mourning, no more crying, and no more pain.

MUSIC: We cannot measure how you heal arr. Malcolm Archer
Margaret鈥楾o disentangle peace from pain, and make your broken people whole.鈥櫬� The song from the Iona Community speaks of the ongoing healing ministry for soul and body, and invites us to pray faithfully for all who suffer.
JanetO God, the help of the weak and the comfort of sufferers:Give strength and courage to all who come to our hospitals in times of sickness.Bless them with hope through dark days,with peace through troubled nights;May your goodness and unfailing mercy ever uphold them,until they come to the fulness of life in your heavenly kingdom;through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.Amen.ChantWithin our darkest nightyou kindle the fire that never dies away,never dies away.

GrahamLord of all healing and mercy, you know that the sick have need of a physician:Bless all who are called to the healing of body and soul;may they learn their profession in reverence for you,and always practise their skills in obedience to your grace;for the glory of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.Amen.
ChantWithin our darkest nightyou kindle the fire that never dies away,never dies away.

JanetEternal God, you are the author of truth and all wisdom;give light to all who engage in medical research;bless them with patience and discernment,that they may be skilled to discover the ways of health and healing,聽and humbly serve in sure confidence that they are fellow-workers with you;through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
ChantWithin our darkest nightyou kindle the fire that never dies away,never dies away.

GrahamLord Jesus Christ,聽who taught that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for you;look upon your servants who are called to nurse the sick and the dying;give them courage and kindness, wisdom and love,with all the grace and guidance of your Holy Spirit;may they faithfully minister to all who are entrusted to their care,and know the strength and peace of those who serve in your name,and in the hope of your heavenly kingdom.Amen.
ChantWithin our darkest nightyou kindle the fire that never dies away,never dies away.

JanetGod of the world,we pray for the greater healing of the nations.in a climate of carelessness and greed,we long for your compassion;in a culture of restlessness and unease,we yearn for your peace.Open our ears to hear the cry of your children,and gives us hearts to work for justice and labour for the common good,that your kingdom may dawn brightly in this our day,for the love of your dear Son Jesus Christ.Amen.

MargaretOur Lord Jesus Christ chose to share our human nature, to heal the sick, and to raise us to eternal life. It is in his name that we learn to pray to God, our Father.
Choir: Lord鈥檚 Prayer (Sumsion)

MargaretTo God鈥檚 gracious mercy and protection we commit you. The Lord bless you and watch over you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look kindly on you and give you peace; and the blessing of the God of all healing, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, settle upon you this day, and remain with you always.聽聽Amen.

HYMN
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.