As women across Sydney brace themselves for the hustle and bustle of the Advent season, the opportunity to take a pause and replenish their faith in readiness, might seem like one Christmas wish too far.
However, the Catholic Women’s Network (CWN) in partnership with sisters from The Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL) are answering this call by hosting the Alight Women’s Retreat on All Souls Day, 2 November.
The Alight Retreat, a day of reflection, prayer, and fellowship held at St Christopher’s in Holsworthy, is designed to help women ready themselves for the arrival of Christ, in preparation for Advent.
“We wanted to create a day that would be accessible and meaningful for women of all ages and stages of life,” explains Sister Bernadette, one of the MGL Sisters leading the retreat.
“The themes of the day reflect this universal message. The first talk, ‘No Oil,’ explores what might be dampening the flame within us and hindering our readiness for the bridegroom’s return.
“The second, talk ‘Fully Alive,’ delves into what it means to be awake, attuned, and prepared.”
Sister Bernadette’s talk, “Darkness into Light,” focuses on how to respond when we find ourselves in the darkness, allowing the light of Christ to transform us.
“We know that women are often in caring roles, whether it’s for their families, their work, or their communities,” Sister Bernadette says.
“This retreat is an opportunity for them to be nourished, to have their own lamps refilled, so they can go back out into the world as a light.”
Since moving into the Carmel House in 2022, a retreat venue in Varroville, the MGL sisters have had a calling to run retreats.
“We just realised that it was a movement from God to be running retreats for people here in Sydney and beyond. And last year, for the first time, we partnered with the Catholic Women’s Network and ran a weekend retreat for women,” explains Sr Bernadette.
The Alight Retreat will run over one day, a move designed by The CWN and MGL to make retreats available to women in the busy-ness of their lives.
“This year, we wanted to make the retreats more accessible, both in terms of time and cost. It’s not possible for some people to get away for a whole weekend.
“This shorter format is much more accessible, and we know how much God can move in the shorter space of time, even a 10-minute prayer time can be really effective. It’s about creating that space, carving out that space for God to move.”
Whilst the men’s ministry has seen a boom in recent numbers, something that pleases Sr Bernadette, she says women’s retreats have always been consistently high in demand.
“I think what we’re finding, what we’re particularly tapping into, is an increasing hunger for God in a lot of our ministries,” she said.
“As the world becomes a more challenging place to navigate, people are really savouring and looking for places of quiet and places of reprieve, and places where they can bring the complexity of their life to God and allow him to work in their lives.”
With 50 women already registered and space for 150 more, the Alight Retreat is generating excitement. The MGL sisters see it as the first of many collaborations with the CWN, as they seek to support the faith formation and development of women across the Archdiocese of Sydney.
“Retreats like this provide hope, community, and the chance for women to know they’re not alone in their faith journey. We’re excited to see how the Lord will move and ignite the hearts of all who attend.”