The Alight Retreat hosted over a transformative spring day, brought together 150 women from diverse backgrounds and age groups, united in their shared journey of faith and spiritual reflection.
The retreat, held on 2 November at St Christopher’s Parish in Holsworthy and hosted by the Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL) Sisters, offered participants a unique opportunity to be nourished, “to have their oil lamps refilled” and to deepen their connection to God and to one another, before the busy-ness of Christmas takes hold.
“It was very timely as it’s about to get so busy,” said Therese French, who attended with her mother, Maree Ataya.
“To be able to stop and be served by other people that love the Lord and that live their lives to the Lord was amazing.”
Retreat organiser, Helena Roumanus from the Catholic Women’s Network (CWN) within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, said the MGL Sisters at retreat used the metaphor of “filling our lamps with oil” taken from the parable of the ten bridesmaids. (Matt 25:1-13).
“Some of us had plenty of oil and our lamps were alight. Some of us may have run out of oil. It didn’t matter, everybody was welcomed,” Helena said.
Therese added that the retreat was a great reminder of all the ways to fill up our oil in the Lord and go out being who we are as God made us, led by the Holy Spirit.
“It empowered me to move forward in my own faith, but also to reconnect with women and Mum, who I haven’t seen much of since getting married this year. So, it was a good reminder of the importance of sisterhood,” she said.
Her mother Maree agreed.
“It was so special, sitting with Therese and all her friends. And it was amazing to be with so many different Catholic women from the charismatic to the conservative, a lot of young mums, a lot of single women and a lot of grandmothers, but we were all together,” said Maree.
A particularly poignant moment for Maree was realising the importance of listening in prayer, rather than just talking.
“I pray every day, but I struggle to sit still and to listen and to hear the Lord. And I think there’s a grace in putting aside time, moving away from your normal routine and just giving God the space to speak,” she said.
For Therese, hearing testimony from the MGL Sisters who lead the talks was a highlight. “I felt like they had personally invested in me. I felt really challenged in my own faith just by witnessing that they are the ‘real deal,’ they’ve surrendered to the Lord, and they love him so much,” she said.
“Advent should be preparing your heart for him,” said Helena.
“We had a beautiful ‘Holy Hour.’ We had Mass to start the day, we had six priests hear confessions for the day and we had quiet prayer time in between, where women could have some reflection time,” she said.
Most nurturing for Helena was the collaboration behind the scenes that made it all possible.
“The collaboration between the CWN, the MGL Sisters, the Somascan community, based locally at that parish and the 30 volunteers was so special to see,” she said.
As the Catholic Women’s Network continues to grow in Sydney, Helena believes events like “The Alight Retreat” will play a crucial role in nurturing the faith of women across generations and the archdiocese.
“It opens us up for bigger and better opportunities for 2025, and beyond. It was amazing,” said Helena.