Bishop Peter A Comensoli is delighted to announce that the Jee Family will represent the Diocese of Broken Bay at the upcoming World Meeting of Families Dublin, Ireland in August 2018.
Held every three years, this major international event brings together families from across the world to celebrate, pray and reflect upon the central importance of marriage and the family as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the Church.
Dublin was chosen by Pope Francis to host the next World Meeting of Families from 21-26 August with the guided by the theme “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World”. Drawing from Pope Francis’ recent Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, the gathering seeks to meet families in the “concrete realities” of everyday life and to draw them into a grace-filled encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ in the very heart of the “family of families”, the Church.
David and Bernadette Jee and their six children, Agnes 14, Millicent 12, Ignatius 9, Aloysius 8, Maximilian 5 and Augustine 4, are a family that seek to live out the vocation to marriage and family in the weave and warp of their daily lives as well as through the numerous family oriented associations to which they belong and contribute to.
In commenting on the Jee family, one friend happily described them as follows:
“There is something very special about the Jee family. To me they are the dependable Catholic family that you know will always support any event run by the Diocese and who warmly invite many others along and will be there on the day witnessing with their own joy and trust in God. Bernadette and David Jee are parents to six beautiful children in the faith and their actions speak louder than words. I have experienced their loving invitation to be part of Diocesan events and it is through their friendship that I have felt welcomed and part of the Church community in a stronger way.”
In taking up their role as World Meeting of Families diocesan ambassadors, David and Bernadette are passionate about proclaiming and witnessing to the “Gospel of the Family” in parishes, at diocesan gatherings, and through various social media channels. They will also be fundraising over the next five months to assist in getting their whole family to all the events which collectively make up World Meeting of Families 2018.
The Diocese looks forward to walking with the Jee family leading up to the gathering in August and will follow their adventure through Ireland with a daily blog and photo diary that will keep the excitement and learnings garnered at this key event flowing back to all those at home.
The Jee family joins the Hyland family, also from Broken Bay, who are the official Australian representatives chosen by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
For more information about World Meeting of Families 2018 and especially for those families who may be interested in travelling to Dublin in order to attend, please contact Steven Buhagiar at the Life Marriage and Family Team on 0415 600 290 or steven.buhagiar@dbb.org.au