The World Meeting of Families is approaching fast. As a Church we look forward and are excited about the prospect of this important event in the life of the Irish and global church. While many will travel to Dublin in August for the main event there are those who will be unable to do so. This however, does not exclude parishioners from being able to participate and feel part of our wider Church family.
With this in mind the Derry Diocesan Youth Commission have produced a 'World Meeting of Families in Parishes' Resource Pack for use by parishes to celebrate this event. This will allow parishes to come together as a parish family and experience the theme of the World Meeting of Families "The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World".
In the forward of the resource pack Bishop McKeown writes:
"For almost everybody, their experience of Church is local. That is where they come in contact with a community and where they encounter God, especially in times of prayer. Building community is not easy – and many people can feel excluded from Church. This initiative in the year of the World Meeting of Families is designed to do three things:
1. To engage active parishioners in working together on this pastoral outreach to all families who live in the area;
2. To celebrate the possibility of community in our often stressful and lonely world
3. To help families of all sorts feel included in a Church context and to create good memories on which to build."
Hear more of what he has to say by watching this video! Please like and share!
Download the Resource Pack here.
The pack includes:
· Children's Liturgy Resources
· Art and Craft Activities
· Prayers of the Faithful for a WMOF Liturgy
· And much more
For those activities that may require extra resources, we have also provided links to make it even easier to locate these resources.
We hope that this will allow parishes to celebrate this important church event in a very simple yet profound way and further deepen our faith in Jesus Christ.
Members of the Derry Diocesan Youth Commission and Derry Youth Community will be happy to meet with and discuss these activities and their organisation with parishes.
Contact Rebecca at the Derry Diocesan Catechetical Centre, The Gatelodge, 2 Francis Street, Derry, BT48 7DS . Tel: +442871 264087. Email: rebecca.odoherty@derrydiocese.org
Film directed and produced by Sean Mullan.
