Each year, more women are choosing to step away from the noise of everyday life and treat the annual Women’s Lenten Retreat in Sydney as a kind of pilgrimage. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
What began as a single retreat day has now grown so significantly that in 2026, organisers have had to open two retreat dates to make room for all those who wish to attend.
“Last year we had 700; this year across the two events we’re close to 1000 women,” says Hazel Lim, mission manager from the Life, Marriage, and Family Team within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation.
Ms Lim believes the surge in interest is a profound expression of what St John Paul II called the genius of women, especially the gift of receptivity.
“St John Paul II, in Mulieris Dignitatem, talks about women having the gift of receptivity, and that’s intrinsic in us,” Ms Lim said.
“Whether we exercise it or not, whether we know it or not, it’s innate in us, and there is a real yearning for us to be able to receive an intimate love that comes from our Lord.”
In a world where women are constantly pouring themselves out for families, workplaces, parishes and communities, the retreat offers a space where they can finally stop, rest, and receive.
“We give so much as women, that we also need to receive. And I think these retreats respond to that yearning, this deep yearning of women being able to receive God’s love so that we’re able to give again and give more. That’s who we are and how we’re made,” Ms Lim said.
Sr Cecilia Joseph from the Dominican Sisters will lead the women through the full-day retreat.
The first retreat will be held this Saturday, with a second to follow on March 14. Details and Registrations: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1512621
FULL STORY
Women’s Lenten retreat is a call to deepen intimacy with Christ (By Darren Ally, The Catholic Weekly)
