My name is Frances, one of the pioneer members of Faith On Fire. We are eighteen members strong, across Ireland, and we have had the good fortune of participating in well thought out and organised formation days from October, 2021 to date.
I am delighted to share my story with you and hope that you are as excited as I am about our mission of evangelisation.
I was very happy when I learnt over Spirit Radio that a new group called Faith on Fire was recruiting. Without waste of time, I quickly applied. The journey began and today the rest they say is history.
I am blessed to be part of Team Faith on Fire: this continually yields wonderful experiences in my faith journey. I have really been blessed with strong faith builders / pointers in my life, starting with my Mum Ezinne Ada, to my GrandMum Vero, to my Dad Francis, aunties and uncles and including my catechism teachers and religious sisters. I have also had the privilege of young, vibrant and active parish priests in my various home cities of Port Harcourt, Awka, Enugu, Kano, Dallas, Dublin and Athy, who had listening ears, were Holy Spirit filled and treasured their priestly call. As a result, they worked for the best for parishioners’ spiritual and temporal wellbeing.
Growing up, my Mum regularly reminded us that serving in the Parish Church in whatever role, is a gift that we should give to God and the Church, hence my siblings and I till date participate in various parish ministries and gladly, our children are happily doing same. This verse reminds me of my Mum’s disposition:
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10-11
I am the first of eight children. From childhood, I have had a tremendous love of travelling, be it with the whole family, or with Dad’s work team during my summer holidays, my school team or parish children’s team . I guess that my Dad, may the Lord rest his soul, having a building and engineering company made travelling even more fun.
Added to this was Mum’s travel packs which were a winner anytime as they were constituted of 'small chops': samosa, meat-pies, scotch eggs, fish rolls, eggy bread, spicy barbecued chicken, freshly squeezed orange, crushed mango juice and bottled water - as well as spiritual sustenance: blessed oil, Holy water, Holy Rosary and pocket prayer cards.
I remember my Mum, Ezinne Ada, had a myriad of prayers for all occasions and has always been a champion of making Christ the centre of living: of church, family, work, friendships, social etc.
During one of our Faith On Fire formation days in 2022, the topic of faith and prayer were extensively discussed. I was delighted, as this was an opportunity to share some of the goodness from my Mum’s prayer repository. So over the summer of 2022, with her permission, we adapted her Family Prayer Resource to share with Faith On Fire.
"I remember my Mum had a myriad of prayers for all occasions and has always been a champion of making Christ the centre of living: church, family, work, friendships, social life etc."
My Mum Ezinne Ada's Family Prayer Resource:
This family Prayer Resource is a real treasure for families. It is also user friendly as it has something for every member of the family. Click below to view or download it. It would be great to print out a copy to use with your family or parish.
If you'd like to share your experience or thoughts afterwards, just post them in the comments here: we'd love to hear from you.
God bless and have a beautiful day!
Oh goodness! Thanks for sharing 👍🏼. Thanks to your Mum. May the soul of your Dad rest in peace 🙏🏾.
Thank you for the pictorial prayer adaptation it simplifies and makes one eager to begin this journey of intimacy with the Lord. Thank you to your mom for sharing this beautiful family prayer with us and the soul of your dad rest in peace🙏
This right here proves the impact of family and community in bringing up children. I pray that through the work of faith on fire this will be rekindled.
Thank you for sharing
This is so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. May God continue to protect your mom. May your dad's soul keep resting in peace, amen.