24th April is the Feast Day of St. Mary Euphrasia, Foundress of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. Global Shepherds and Good Shepherd Services, the two organisations under the Good Shepherd umbrella would typically have their own separate Feast Day programmes, not least because each have offices in different locations around the country.
This year we decided to do something different.
We had a joint celebration. In a virtual space. How else could we get everybody together at the same time and in the same place (and at minimal cost), but on Zoom !
The highlight of the session was the screening of Euphrasia the Musical, the 2019 production by the Good Shepherd Sisters Singapore-Malaysia.
Excitement built up as the day approached as many had not seen the live stage performance. The staff gathered in groups (as opposed to logging on individually); some had even set up the space to get the full effect of a ‘mini-theatre’ complete with popcorn, snacks, easy chairs and dimmed lighting!
We were a big group of about 60 people comprising staff, religious and some of the Board members too!
The program began with an introduction to Good Shepherd in Malaysia, setting the tone for what was to come. Willa Mowe, Head of the Good Shepherd Mission Hub, provided a brief history of the Good Shepherd ministries in Malaysia, highlighting the different outreach programs run by each one. The emphasis was on the commonalities between the organizations, as we share the same mission, vision, and core values, despite the variations in services provided and communities served. This helped to establish a sense of unity and purpose, which was central to the session.
Everyone then settled in to watch the musical.
The post-show reflections session was facilitated by Theresa Symons, long time Partner-in-Mission of Good Shepherd. During this session, we discussed the main takeaways from the musical and shared which core values or behaviors of St. Mary Euphrasia resonated with us or could be applied to our work. We also talked about how the story inspired us and how it will continue to motivate us in our work. Indeed, it was quite a heartening conversation !
As we said the closing prayer and said our goodbyes, it was not only the songs from the musical that still played in our heads, but our hearts were filled with a renewed spirit, a zealous passion and a new determination to “go out and do something good”.
The musical is available online here https://euphrasiathemusical.gsif.it/