ChrisSkinner.

'For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me and I live in them.' The song I am sharing with you this week is 'Come into this sacred space.' Here are the lyrics. Come into this sacred space Come into this sacred space Light a candle, take your place Come, receive the gift of God’s embrace Whatever weighs upon your heart We can make a brand new start Each of us is God’s own precious work of art With our voices sing

St Paul’s greeting in today's Sunday reading is a fitting beginning for our feast today, 'may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you…..he invites us to become aware of the profound reality of God’s grace and that it is through the very life of the Trinity that grace is communicated to us. We have probably lost the memory of our learning how to make the sign of the cross, but I still have the memory of my siblings

Happy Pentecost Day Over the past week we have been conducting a 'retreat in daily life' for a local parish here in Wellington with the theme of 'Listening to the Spirit,' leading up to the feast of Pentecost. We used guided meditations every day and then asked them to share on what struck them, what was significant for them or what grace they received as they imagined themselves in the scene. Below, I want to share with you part of one of those meditations if you would like

For all those who have been baptized in Christ we have been given the task of sharing our faith as his disciples. Jesus says, before his Ascension, 'Go therefore , make disciples of all the nations, baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit....And know that I am with you always..... The song I am sharing with you this week reflects Christ' commission to us. You are all I have Track 4 from 'Like a Beautiful Day.' You are all I have Go i

Mum at home in Whanganui with my sister Carmel enjoying a cuppa. Special days. It will be Mum's 10th anniversary of death this year. Time has gone by very quickly. The song I recorded with Mum, 'I want to sing with you, Mum,' is 31 years old now and continues to be one of my most popular songs. I dedicate it to all Mum's on this day and for all of us to give thanks for the gift of our mothers both living and deceased. I am in Christchurch conducting a retreat for 3 days this

Places and objects have significance and are precious to us. Pounamu given to us by a loved one or a group we’ve belonged to continues to connect us to them even years later. Rosary beads we may carry around in our pocket given to us by a close family member connects us to them and the power of prayer to unite us still. We touch places, rocks, even kiss the ground perhaps to connect the living to the past and the past to the present. We touch headstones to connect with our lo

It was standing at Anzac Cove in 2003 that inspired the song 'Sons of Gallipoli.' I joined the St Francis of Assisi Ohariu parish in Johnsonville for a moving Anzac tribute today being Anzac Day. We acknowledged the Turkish people represented by our Turkish friends playing traditional instruments and singing a poignant song to their fallen youth during the Gallipoli campaign. We listened as the Turkish national anthem was sung and joined in the singing of both the Australian

The Road to Emmaus, 1877, by Robert Zünd, a landscape painter Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him at the breaking of the bread…. This is the last line of the Gospel today from Luke 24:13-35. I remember being fascinated as a child by a painting of the 'The Road to Emmaus,' which I have posted above. It hung in our lounge. When I look at it now it is hardly a scene from Palestine at the time of Jesus. However, it doesn't