Zion RC Community hosts prayer breakfast

The Zion Community held its Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, October 12 at the San Fernando North Community Centre, St Vincent Street, San Fernando. As guests drove into the car park, inside the building there was a buzz of activities as ushers took guests to their seats, the caterers putting the final touches to the buffet, all adding to an air of expectancy that pervaded the room.

A little after the scheduled 8.30 a.m. start time, Master of Ceremonies Michael Bourne, from Tortuga Parish, introduced the St Anthony’s Youth Choir from Point Fortin led by Sharon Jackson Tobas and Kenea Beckles.

The choir opened with a medley of popular hymns, the first being, ‘Fire, fire, fire, fire fall on me’ delivered with tempo and ‘Rhythm to make the soul of our people dance’ which set the tone for the morning’s proceedings.

That was followed by the singing of the National Anthem by the gathering led by Bourne and the opening prayer said by Margaret Woods of the Zion RC Community. And then it was time for nourishment of the body.

Following a sumptuous breakfast the rest of the morning’s programme kicked in, which included a talk by Fr Raymond Francis.

Fr Francis introduced his talk on the theme He that is mighty has done great things for us by using his personal challenges on his journey to the priesthood.

“When I look at my own life I have only scratched the surface, brothers and sisters. But when I think about my own life and I hear Mary’s exclamation, my soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God…He that is mighty has done great things for me” said Fr Francis.

He told his listeners that, “we live too much in the negative moments of our lives. We live too much in the negative experiences, that no matter how much God does for us when something negative happens, we spend our year in that spot. And so, we are not able to rejoice, we are not allowing gratitude, we are not allowing thanksgiving to flow out of our hearts.”

Fr Francis reminded the audience that “Mary our Mother invites us to sit, whether it be a painful sitting or a joyful sitting, and to ponder, ponder the various experiences that we are having. And in pondering, recognise the presence of God.”

—Story and photo by Elmo Griffith