The World Meeting of Families is inviting couples to share special tokens of love with a difference for St Valentine’s Day this year.
Following Pope Francis’ calls to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in a more meaningful way, WMOF2018 is inviting couples to think beyond the traditional box of chocolates or bunch of flowers to gifts that will actually help them grow in their love.
In his document Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis refers directly to Saint Valentine’s Day as an opportunity for couples to celebrate the importance of romantic love by gifting their time and attention to one another rather than simply relying on the more commercial approaches to the saint’s day.
This is why, as part of the preparations for World Meeting of Families in Ireland in August, the World Meeting of Families 2018 are inviting individuals and couples to ‘Celebrate the Joy of Love this St Valentine’s Day’ and to mark this day in a number of special ways.
WMOF2018 have produced a book of free gift tokens that people can give to their loved ones. This year’s tokens include invitations to share:
- A journey down memory lane – taking time to remember how we met
- A special meal cooked by me
- A technology-free evening together
- Time together to pray
- A hand-in-hand walk together
- Loads of tender hugs
- A family outing
- A prayer that those looking for love will find that special someone
The tokens were introduced last year and proved really popular. They are being offered again this year in English and Irish with two new tokens included.
The WMOF2018 are asking couples to acknowledge how precious their time is together and asking them to pick up a book of tokens and a special card to go with them and to share these simple acts of love and kindness with each other.
WMOF2018 are also inviting people to visit the shrine of Saint Valentine in Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin and to pray through Saint Valentine’s intercession to grow in the love they have already found.
The tokens are free and are available in parishes across the country as part of the WMOF2018 ‘Amoris Let’s Talk Family! Let’s be Family!’ programme. Watch out for information in your parish as we get closer to Saint Valentine’s Day.
Given that St Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year, it is a good a year as any to think outside the chocolate box!
Amoris Programme Parish Conversations beginning soon
As we continue with our preparations for the World Meeting of Families 2018, parishes will shortly be offering the first of six parish sessions as part of our ‘Amoris: Let’s Talk Family! Let’s be Family!’ programme. The first theme that parishes will be looking at is ‘The Reality of Family Life today’.
WMOF2018 invite people to get involved at parish level with this programme. You can read all about the programme and watch some related multi-media materials on the www.amoris.ie website which is dedicated to the programme.
For more information on the parish conversations, check out your local diocesan and parish websites.
Ireland of the welcomes
Thousands of people will be travelling from very distant places to participate in the World Meeting of Families in Dublin over August 21-26 this year.
Over the years, a tradition of hosting pilgrims has grown around the World Meeting of Families.
The organisers of the World Meeting of Families 2018 are now actively seeking offers of accommodation for overseas pilgrims in family homes in the Dublin area, and particularly in areas which have good bus or rail links to the City Centre.
The requests that are received for accommodation are from places like Peru, Ecuador, the Philippines and Bangladesh, for example. For pilgrims travelling from these distant places, travel costs are already quite significant.
Many of them would be unable to come if they also had to cover the cost of their accommodation. Yet their presence here is an important expression of solidarity with us, coming as they do from countries which have a strong missionary connection with Ireland.
Do you have a spare room? Would you be willing to host a pilgrim, a couple or a family so as they can be offered a home from home experience while they are with us for the World Meeting of Families?
Hosting a pilgrim family, perhaps a couple and some children, or an individual pilgrim, would mean welcoming them into your home between Saturday, August 18 and Monday, August 27, and to provide them with a simple clean bedroom and breakfast each day.
All pilgrims staying in hosted accommodation will have been referred to the WMOF2018 by the national delegate of their home country.
If you are interested in learning more about hosting pilgrims for WMOF2018, please call the hosting team on 0353 1 567 6800 or email hostingteam@worldmeeting2018.ie
Invitation to register now for WMOF2018!
Registration for all WMOF2018 events is open via worldmeeting2018.ie. Pilgrims can now register for the main three-day Congress in the RDS, Dublin from 22-24 August; for the Festival of Families on Saturday, August 25 and for the Closing Mass on Sunday, August 26.
There are registrations from more than 50 countries at this stage. With just 30 weeks to go until WMOF2018 begins we are inviting people from Ireland to register to be part of this once in a generation event right here on their doorstep in Ireland.