Asia Pacific leadership teams recognized the need for an integrated approach of the different units in the areas of Formation, Spirituality, Justice/Peace and Partnership for an effective Good Shepherd mission in the region.Resource persons invited for the integrated approach to mission included Sr. Winifred Doherty of the Good Shepherd International Justice Peace Office in New York, Sr. Noreen O’Shea of the Mother House and Spirituality Center in Angers, Ms. Cristina Duranti of the Mission Development Office in Rome, and Ms. Theresa Symons and Sr. Noelene White of the Good Shepherd Asia Pacific Partnership.
Days 7-9: Towards an integrated approach to mission
The first of the three-day session (September 27-29) on integrated approach allowed the participants to look at mission with new consciousness, asking St. Mary Euphrasia and St. John Eudes to enlighten the way, while finding new approach to mission today.
The question, “What is not enough for us today?” brought the leadership teams to reflect on and recognize the movement of the Spirit in responding to the mission today. Just like St. John Eudes who responded to the call of Madeleine Lamy to do something more for the women in difficulty, St. Mary Euphrasia, too had the courage to build a tunnel to be able to reach out to women in need across the street.
Good Shepherd Partnership
Sr. Noelene and Theresa traced the development of co-responsibility for mission in the Asia Pacific region from 2003 to 2014. Six lay partners who were invited to attend the 2003 Congregational Chapter, brought a new awareness about sharing the Good Shepherd charism with the lay people.
In 2006, at the Asia Pacific Circle meeting in Malaysia, four lay partners and four sisters from the Australia-Aotearoa New Zealand and Singapore-Malaysia formed the planning committee for the First Good Shepherd Asia-Pacific Partnership Meeting that was held in 2008.
Succeeding years saw the unfolding and development of mission partnership in the region.
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Mother House and Spirituality Center
Sr. Noreen spoke of the Mother House- Spirituality Center and how Angers has offered the congregation
and other groups a place for chapters, meetings, retreats and renewal programs. The very place itself is rich of our history, where “even the stones and the garden could speak” to those who visit it.
The Asia-Pacific Circle, like other regions in the congregation, has also supported Angers, by sending sisters to the Mother House and Spirituality Center. While the congregation has supported the Motherhouse, Sr. Noreen said that the sisters and lay mission partners are also exploring on how pilgrimages at the Mother House can be promoted as part of spiritual tourism. A museum that is being planned will enrich this and the collaboration of each unit in giving a brief presentation about the work began by St. Mary Euphrasia continues to help women and children of today.
Mission Development
Established in 2007, the Mission Development Office was a response of the congregation to the cry of the poor and to help the different units, particularly Africa, Asia and Latin America, in generating funds for the different projects.
Cristina Duranti, director of MDO, said as of today the office has been helping raise funds and hold capacity building in 28 countries. She also presented a power point about the growing MDO family composed of lay staff and Advisory Board- sisters and men/women experts in project development.
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MDO has recently launched a program to raise awareness of the need to help the project in Congo. Many units responded by their prayers, by holding activities and raising funds for the project.
Justice and Peace
“Restructuring, poverty, migration, trafficking, women and girls, violence, corruption,” all these, Sr. Winifred Doherty, our Good Shepherd-NGO representative to the United Nations said, are words that are used at the UN.
Speaking about the Eight Millennium Development Goals that the UN has set to achieve by 2015, Winifred also said that these goals will be replaced by the 17 Sustainable Goals that focused on economic, social and environment issues.
Winifred also shared that “Leave no one behind” could be today’s interpretation of, “A person is of more value than a world.”
The conversation and dialogue with the three representatives of MDO, Spirituality Center and JP was held toward an integrated regional approach and structure for mission.
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Regional realities like need for development of mission partnership and capacity building of lay and sisters,
the strengthening of Justice and Peace network, migration, trafficking, oriental spirituality and to explore Good Shepherd Spirituality on a cosmological context, the need to learn English as link language are some of the issues that the leadership teams would like to address as a way of moving forward for the region.
The Asia Pacific Circle of Province Leaders also listened to the regions suggestions and programs that could be done during the next six years.
The leadership teams thanked Srs. Noreen, Winifred, Cristina, Theresa and Noelene for their commitment and for their sharing their concrete actions and helping us to surface the needs of the region, and to prioritize the areas that need urgent response.
-Sr. Doreen Epitawela & Sr. Regina Kuizon
Pictures:Melina Ong
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