Chap goh mei- the 15 th day of Chinese Lunar new year, also the final day of celebration – is a
Hokkien term that means Prime Night festival. It’s also called Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵节), the
Chinese celebrates as Valentine’s. Not only lovers but families get together, including the big
family of Good Shepherd Church.
500 parishioners from all language groups, BECs, different ministries get together during this
evening on 8 th Feb, to dine and celebrate as one church at the function hall of Mun Yee
primary school. Fr Christopher, the parish priest, greeted by the Lion Dance舞狮 and
explained later that the gesture of ‘bowing 3 times’ reminds us to always give thanks to God
and respect to one another敬主爱人.
The evening was made memorable by various cultural performances including Chinese
traditional musical 古筝，扬琴，beautiful dances by the Evergreen members, choir singing
CNY songs by the 主日学catechism students etc.

This Extraordinary Missionary Year 2019 saw the Evergreens Ministry of the Good
Shepherd Church, Setapak, KL make a second Pilgrimage, this time being a one day
Pilgrimage / Heritage Trip to the Historical City of Malacca. (Our first pilgrimage was to St
Theresa’s Church in Nilai )
A full busload of 44 Evergreens , the oldest at 82, departed GSC Setapak at 8.00am on
Wednesday 18 th Sept 2019 to commence our Pilgrimage cum Heritage trip. On the bus as we
left KL, we prayed the Rosary and sang some Marian songs.

First Stop (Pilgrimage) : St. Peter’s Church , the oldest functioning Catholic Church in
Malaysia. We were met by church elder, Mr Desmond De Souza, who so eloquently
provided us with an entralling historical background of this majestic and iconic church that
has stood the test of time for over three centuries (since 1710 ).
We were fortunate to be still there at 12 Noon when the church bells in the belfry of the
church tolled the ANGELUS as we prayed the Angelus.
Thereafter, some of us visited and bought some very nice gifts and items from their very
unique “St. Pete’s Gift Shoppe”, whilst others strolled the grounds or visited the Passion
Room and the Marian Room within the Church.

Second Stop ( Pilgrimage) : Church Of St Francis Xavier , another iconic structure in the
form of a twin spired church that was built in 1849 and reputed to have been modelled
after the Cathedral of St. Peter in Montpellier, Southern France. We were warmly greeted
by Mr Colin Goh and Ms Doris Tan. In the church, Ms.Doris efficiently briefed us and
showed us slides of the history of this very significant Church that was built in honour of St
Francis Xavier, the Patron Saint of Missionaries.
We were privileged to be given the opportunity to venerate the Relic of St Francis Xavier .
We then toured the grounds of the church which included the Crypt underneath the Church
and the Church’s museum. And lucky us, we additionally had Sister Stephanie of the Holy
Infant Jesus Convent, Malacca, on hand to guide us through the Church’s museum that day.
Due to the HAZE and also lack of time, we had to skip the full Heritage Walk via the
Stadhuys and up to St Paul’s Hill to see the old burial site of St Francis Xavier . The group
had a novelty lunch of Chicken Rice Ball at the famous Jonker Street.

Third Stop (Pilgrimage/Heritage) : Statue of Christ The Redeemer and Chapel of The
Immaculate Conception at The Portuguese Square / Portuguese Settlement.
A nice group photgraph was taken at the base of the looming Statue of Christ The
Redeemer after which some of us said our own personal prayers there.
It was unfortunate that the chapel was closed so we were not able to enter the chapel.
Some did however visit a little gift shop which also held a small Portuguese Museum and
were fortunate to have been given a short briefing by its owner/operator, Mr Jerry.
We enjoyed a short tea break at the Portuguese Square where our own Evergreen, Mr
Lawrence De Souza (a local Malaccan of Portuguese descent ) introduced everyone to “Pang
Susi“ a Portuguese chicken bun.

Fourth Stop ( Heritage ) : On the expanse of newly reclaimed piece of land by the coast to
be called Impression City” stands a modern building, South East Asia’s largest performing
arts theatre called ENCORE MELAKA . This was where we were treated to 70 minutes of an
awe-inspiring Historical & Heritage Show performed by nearly 200 real life performers
accompanied by high tech and revolutionary digital projections. Here was a theatre which
has the whole audience platform rotating 360 degrees around 240 meters of multiple built-
in hydraulic stages. The various stories were told through the art of song, dance and
scenery that had us travelling on a voyage thorough time and space.
Before leaving Malacca for home, we stopped at the Portuguese & Nyonya Restaurant for a
sumptuous dinner of…… you guessed it, Portuguese and Nyonya cuisine.
After a long day, the two hour plus drive back to KL saw many snoozing (and snoring) in the
bus. We arrived safely back at our good old GSC, tired but certainly more inspired after this
meaningful Pilgrimage.

GOD IS GOOD , ALL THE TIME.

PILGRIMAGE BY THE EVERGREENS  OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH , SETAPAK, KUALA LUMPUR TO THE CHURCH OF ST. THERESA , NILAI  FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY MISSIONARY YEAR 2019.

Nilai, 12TH June 2019 :

Eighty six (86) Evergreens ( formerly know as Senior Citizens) of the Good Shepherd Chuch , Setapak KL , together with our Parish Priest , Rev. Fr. Christopher Soosaipillai, in two chartered buses, headed for the Church of St. Theresa, Nilai , a church  selected as a “ Pilgrimage Church” for the Extraordinary Missionary Year 2019 ( EMY 2019). On arrival, the group was joined by at least another 10 other parishioners from the Good Shepherd Church who had made their own way there

We were welcomed so very warmly by Rev. Fr. Eugene Benedict and his team as we all gathered near the entrance ( Station 1 )  in front of the statue of St.Therese of Lisuiex and the Crucifix of Christ.

Rev. Fr. Eugene in welcoming us, gave us a comprehensive  introduction of what we were going to do during this pilgrimage and also led us in prayer. He even “sprinkled”  little rose petals on all of us in recognition of St. Therese who is also known as “ The Little Folwer”.

Being the perfect hosts that they are, Fr. Eugene and his team did not forget that we needed to be fed and  treated us to a warm and welcomed breakfast of delicious ” Char Bee Hoon” with coffee and tea for all. He joked that this was to give us  energy for our “arduous pilgrimage walk” that was to follow.

The “ Pilgrimage Walk – Walking In The Light Of St. Theresa’s Life Journey”, commenced with all of us coming to Station 3 where we all gathered in front of a family picture of St. Theresa and her family  and reflected on the Family Life of St. Theresa.

The pilgrimage walk continued through the following stations where in-depth explanations were given by Rev.Fr. Eugene and meaningful prayers were said at each of the  stations.

Station 4 : St. Theresa’s Devotion To Our Mother.

Station 5 : St. Theresa’s Devotion To Our Church – The Walk.

Station 6 : St. Theresa’s  Pilgrim Church – The Ruins.

Station 7 : St. Theresa On Her Death Bed – The Crying Room  (for those having heavy burdens)

Station 8 : St. Theresa’s Devotion To Our Lady of Fatima  (the grotto and also the little vegetable garden by the side)

Station 9 : We walked “ UP THE RAMP TOWARDS THE ALTAR “ at  Station 9, to go into the temporary but lovely chapel. Here,  our pilgrimage was culminated with a HOLY MASS jointly celebrated by  Rev. Fr. Eugene and Rev. F.r Christopher

During Mass, the very “newly minted”  Evergreens Choir led by our team leader Desmond and mentor Steven did a splendid job in leading the congregation through all the hymns.

The chapel, located within the Pastoral Centre serves as a  “temporary church “ because in 2012, the old Church building had been burnt down in a fire that was a result of an electrical short circuit. Only the front facade and part of the back of the church building remains standing now. However, Fr. Eugene informed us of the good news that approval had been received for the church to be rebuilt.   Praise The Lord.

At the end of the Mass,  Fr. Eugene gave a few of the Evergreens the honour of placing  a “Crown of Roses” on the head of the Statue of St Theresa at the altar.

Everyone made donations towards the church , for  the poor and for the Mission year, in cash and also via  grocery items ( for the Orang Asli ) as well as some recyclables.

The group felt that we all RECEIVED so much more than we gave during this pilgrimage  and we are all grateful to Rev. Fr. Eugene and his team for their kind hospitality and especially for the passionate and  clear explanations by Rev Fr. Eugene that made this pilgrimage so meaningful.

We are of course THANKFUL to GOD that we had this opportunity to experience and to be part of this very  SPECIAL pilgrimage. We look forward to visiting St Theresa’s Church again when it is rebuilt.