By Caroline Soon
A heartfelt testimony was given during an ongoing online formation of ‘The Wild Goose’ series. A mother of four spoke of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and of how she was given the inner strength while the family went through some challenging times.
What is ‘The Wild Goose?’ The name itself is an ancient Celtic word for the Holy Spirit. This 14-part segments is one of the many programmes from FORMED, a digital platform powered by Augustine Institute, from Denver, Colorado.
Since the start of the pandemic, a team of enthusiastic lay Catholics from East and West Malaysia (Pan Malaysian team) have been organising online formations, with at least three programmes in a year, with the current run of ‘The Wild Goose’ series.
So what’s exciting about this series that we want to write and share while only half way through? It really is the work of the Holy Spirit, which is awakening in the hearts of not only the organising team, but also amongst our guests, numbering no less than one hundred. We are experiencing God’s love and his transforming power, a love that has been revealed by Jesus and set on fire in us by the Holy Spirit.
The first segment speaks of God’s love that has been poured out. That there is nothing we can do that would cause God to love us less. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to experience the beauty and freedom of God’s love. The subsequent segments draw us more and more into the inner life of the Trinitarian God, and the workings of the Holy Spirit. A ten-minute reflection for each segment gives us the space to internalise what we have learned. We take away biblical key texts each week for applications in our lives.
The team organising these formations was under the spiritual guidance of the late Fr John Gnanapiragasam. He laid a strong foundation for us to continue. We are privileged to have at least one or two priests with us each time on our formation. Fr Martin Arlando from the Diocese of Penang journeys with us and gives us spiritual direction. We are also blessed to have Archbishop Simon Poh of Kuching Archdiocese endorsing our initiatives.
FORMED is like a Catholic ‘Netflix’, a revolutionary online platform featuring the best Catholic content for every one and at every level. Ongoing faith formation for the laity is at our fingertips. Our team has not only been using the platform since the inception, we are enthusiastic promoters too. We have truly been enriched by it, thanks to the renewed subscription by the Church’s leadership in the dioceses we are in.
When we end ‘The Wild Goose’ series in mid-October, we will run Alpha in three languages. English Alpha will start on 14 October. We have seen the fruits of Alpha too. Many pre-believers have joined RCIA, and we believe the Holy Spirit will continue to use us to draw others to Christ.
So if you are reading this article, do get in touch with us, especially if you want to invite your non-Christian friends to come and see. If you need more information on FORMED, we can reach out to you too. Our contacts below:
Joyce Ting (Kuching) – 0143923410
Helen Scott (KL) – 0123291726
Martina Ngui (PJ) – 0193566983
