Hello ladies.

And welcome to the second talk in our advent retreat series,

prepare your heart for him.

My name is Karen Doyle, your host and founder of the genius project and

initiative the Catholic women designed to resource and support them towards

growth in all areas of their life, spiritual, emotional, and professional.

We seek to do this through our online courses, the Catholic women's masters.

As well as our live virtual events and the genius podcast.

If you'd like to know more about the genius project, please take a look at

our website, www dot genius, project.co.

We have a few hundred women gathering to do this advent series.

Right around the world.

So as you sit in your home or wherever you are right now, please know that you

are actually joined in spirit to accompany and a sisterhood of other women who are

doing exactly this whose hearts desire to go deeper with the Lord, to grow into the

fullness of who God has created you to be.

So ladies you are most welcome in this place.

Know that you are not alone, that despite locked down.

Bought restrictions.

You are actually United in spirit with some amazing Catholic women.

It is my great joy and privilege to host this advent retreat series for

you and my heart behind this retreat is that it will give you a place

to carve out some time and space to receive the Lord in a new way.

This Christmas, we know that.

Season of preparation.

It's a season of hopeful waiting and anticipation for the return of Christ

and the way in which God is going to uniquely reveal himself to us at.

So to lead us in this second week's reflection, I have

invited joy Aiden to join me.

Joy is a beautiful woman.

Who's been on our genius podcast.

She lives in Sydney, Australia.

She's married with two children.

She's a Catholic creative who does a lot of beautiful

calligraphy and brush lettering.

You can find her at joy.

Aiden writes on Instagram and today she is going to lead us in a reflection

of the different people who were.

At the birth of Christ and how each of these people encountered him in

their own unique way and how we too can encounter Christ through their example.

So ladies, sit back, relax and enjoy this second talk.

In our advent retreat series, prepare for him.

Joy.

Welcome to our advent retreats.

Oh, I shouldn't say joy to have you, but it is a joy to have you, it's been so

lovely to connect with you recently, and you'll be a guest on our podcast in the

new year, which we've prerecorded, but I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.

You have a beautiful gift in a way of just sharing and speaking.

So I think that women are going to be so blessed so well.

Thank you for having

me.

It's my pleasure to be

here.

Would you just share maybe a little bit about yourself?

Cause you'll be new to our community of women in the genius project.

Would you just tell us a little bit about yourself?

So my name is joy.

Uh, Dan, I am.

Uh, Catholic, who has grown up in Western Sydney, still living in

Western Sydney with my family have been married for a living years.

I have two boys when he's nine when he's five.

So the five-year-old's very excited about starting kindergarten next year.

Uh, professionally I'm a writer.

So I work with a lot of different organizations, uh, usually on their

online marketing, but when I'm not doing that, um, I'm very much.

Spirit.

So I think that's where I can drink spirits coming.

Karen were very much a maker.

I think one of the things I've picked up definitely in the last five or six

years, um, has been just an absolute joy and love for sharing creativity and

giving people opportunities to create.

So I do that through my calligraphy.

I do that through my lettering courses and I'm, and I'm also a

cohost of another Catholic podcast, which is called at the well.

And so yeah, very active in the church community and just very

blessed to be doing ministry while also living the vocation as a mother.

And.

Fantastic.

Well, thank you.

It's so I know if people want to follow you, what is your

Instagram handle for them?

Joy.

Dan bright.

That's right.

And I'm waiting for you to put out a calligraphy course,

so my daughters can come on.

I like that.

Thank you.

It keeps me accountable.

When people ask me to do things, I'll just let it sit here and not do anything.

Well, joy.

I'd love to throw to you now, just to, you're going to lead us

in a bit of a reflection today on I guess the nativity aren't you.

Yes, that's right.

Different people who were present and bore witness to the birth of

Christ and how as we today in the modern world can also enter into

and experience those experiences.

So please take the floor and share your beautiful wisdom.

Thank you, Karen.

And thank you to you who are listening today.

I'll preface this with the caveat that I am by no means an expert

in Lectio Divina, but, uh, this is something that, uh, I've, I've been

reflecting on, especially in the.

Uh, I've had a bit of time just to, as many of us have been

preparing a houses for Christmas.

And also, you know, as we begin advent, really just thinking

about the story of the nativity.

And today I want to walk through three characters who are not the central

characters of the nativity story.

The first is the.

Who who led Jesus and the holy family into his mess because we all have myths.

And I think we can all relate to that in Quebec and Quebec.

The second of the shepherds who turned up as they were completely empty here.

And we're called to worship Jesus in the middle of their work shift.

And I think as many of us listening, um, women tend to be very busy and, and often

I definitely personally feel the guilt of not having time or not making time.

To grow deeper in my faith or to spend time in prayer, or there are always things

that I wish I could do better and more time that I wish I was spending with God.

Um, and I definitely feel for, I relate very much to those shepherds who, um,

who must have been very grateful that the angel came and said, Hey, drop

what you're doing, come and do this.

And, um, and the third, um, characters of, uh, the characters of the wise men

and the three magic and, and, uh, I won't reflect on the gifts they've doing.

Cause I feel like that's been done.

So.

So I'm going to talk a little bit about how they were, uh, uh, effected

by the encounter with Christ.

So I'll start first with the innkeeper.

And before I do, I'm going to just, uh, start by reading the gospel

that we will all likely here.

Uh, during, you know, that the midnight mass or whenever it is that you go

to bed for the Christmas and a and one that I'm sure we will be all

familiar with it, or if not, hopefully.

Um, and even if we are familiar with it, hopefully it resonates

as you, as you hear it today.

So I reading from the holy gospel, according to Luke, Caesar Augustus

issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken this census.

The first took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone

went to his own town to be.

So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up

to Judea to the town of David called Bethlehem since he was at David's house

and line in order to be registered with Mary , who was with child while they

were there, the time came for her to have her child and she gave birth to her son.

Her first born, she wrapped him in swaddling clerks.

And laid him in a manger because there was no room for them.

At the end in the countryside, close by.

There were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in

turns to watch their flocks.

During the night, the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory

of the Lord shone around them.

They were terrified, but the angel said do not be afraid.

Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole

people today in the town of David, a savior has been going to you.

He is Christ the Lord, and here he's assigned for you.

You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And suddenly with the angel, there was a great throng of the heavenly

host, praising God and singing glory to God in the highest heaven

and paced to the men who enjoy his favor, the gospel of the Lord.

Such a beautiful story.

And for many of us, a very familiar story.

And I remember having a picture book when I grow up with all

these old Testament stories and then the new Testament stories.

And there was this photo picture illustration of, you know, the holy

family, Mary, very pregnant on a donkey, Joseph approaching all these

different places, trying to find a place for Mary to have her baby.

And I always remember that picture.

Now that I'm an adult.

And whenever I hear that story on Christmas night or Christmas day,

I picture that because I remember thinking how difficult it must've been.

And what a relief.

It must've been after all of that journey to then find a

place for Mary to have a shot.

And now, after having two of my own children, both boys and going

through labor, oh my goodness.

What a stressful night that wouldn't be.

And I think of that person who would have had to say, look, there's

no room for you to actually stay.

Wherever, you know, somebody comfortable, but you're desperate.

He is a, he's a manger.

He's a place where all the, where all the animals speed.

If you want to go there and, and out of desperation there, he was there.

He was born and there's this beautiful quote from Dorothy Day that, um, my friend

Quane who actually co-hosts the podcast with me, uh, shared the other week.

Um, and, and it says, I'm so glad Jesus was born in a stable.

Because my soul is so much like a stable it's poor and in unsatisfactory condition

yet I believe that if Jesus can be born in a stable, maybe he can also be born in me.

And I just think of all the challenges that we've had even

in just the last 12 months.

You know, whatever the year has been like for you and your family and

your loved ones, the last 18, 24 months, whatever your life has been.

Like, there are so many times when we have felt, or I have definitely felt

poor and in satisfactory condition where I've thought to myself, I

should not step foot in this church.

I bet.

I can't even give words to the sins that I should be saying in confession.

When I think to myself, oh, what, what can I possibly bring to God?

Who, who am I to come and ask for these things?

And I think.

The beauty of the Christmas story is that it invites us to come to Jesus

as we are, but also to invite him into our mess because he comes into a mess.

And I've got a little person who is, he's also coming in to say, hello,

I've got a five-year-old who's just popped in and he's now unwrapping

one of his board games next to me.

So

perfect joy.

We don't want to do, we don't want to do life.

Perfect.

That's right, right.

I might, I might get my husband to come and

that's fine if you want to.

So funny.

That is so cool.

I love it.

So the beauty, the beauty of Christmas is it reminds us that there is no perfect.

And I think.

That's a perfect illustration of that.

You know, interim interruptions happen, children, children don't

care about our agenda and what we're in the middle of, but also.

In a, in a world where we are so tempted to have that Instagram perfect house, uh,

where everyone's sharing photos of their amazing Christmas decorations or their

perfect gingerbread house or whatever it is that they're doing to physically

prepare their homes with Christmas.

And I don't have anything against those things because I also love putting

up the Christmas tree personally.

Let's not forget that.

Even if we had none of those things, the most important thing, the most

important home that actually needs preparing and invitation is, is Jesus.

Is it hearts, our hearts and, and our hearts can be messy.

Our hearts can be dirty.

Uh, hearts may not be fit for a king, a heavenly king, but if, if

our Lord can enter the world, the physical world, Surrounded by mess

and dirt and the worst of the worst.

And then he can enter our hearts and, and do amazing, beautiful things.

And so I invite you to consider how to be, to be that person who allows Jesus in.

And in this season and think of the ways that, you know, you might allow

Jesus to CMS because it's okay.

He's seen the worst and that's all right.

And we can still celebrate in, in the middle of all of that.

And we don't have to have it all figured out the second character I

want to unpack, or the characters that I want to unpack other shepherds.

And I think the reason why I I'm bringing this up is because a few, a

couple of years ago, I remember, uh, was, uh, going through a particularly.

Rough end of year.

Lot of things blindsided me.

Um, I was really surprised and shocked by things that were happening in

friends' lives and close and people close to my, and in close to me and

my family also really devastated by my own personal news and my own health.

And it had just been such a rubbish year.

And I remember thinking I'm not in the mood to be fixed.

I'm not in the mood to be buying presents for people.

I'm just, I'm tired, I'm exhausted.

And, and I remember messaging a group of girlfriends and just being,

and just being, you know, this is a really close knit group of girls.

And I said, is anyone else just over it?

Or, or is it just me?

And they said, you know what you're doing?

All right, you're doing fine.

And your best is enough.

And I felt very blessed to have those women in my life to remind me that.

You know, the, our best is enough.

And I remembered in that moment when they reminded me that yes, there were

wise men who, who offered their gifts to, to baby Jesus in that manky manger.

But they will also shepherds who rocked up empty handed.

And sometimes we will have a gift worthy to offer Jesus.

But when we don't.

Showing up is enough showing up to church with messy, disabled children or yourself

missing disheveled, perfectly fine.

Showing up to prayer in exactly that same state, perfectly

fine showing up easy enough.

And when we do show up and when the angel does come to us in the midst of

our business and I worked at and says, Hey, In the car when you're driving,

maybe say a little prayer, or when you have that moment with your kids where

you just feel this intense gratitude for whatever it is, it may be that

they finally go into sleep or, oh, they actually finished their dinner or they

didn't make that huge mess in the kitchen.

Or maybe they cleaned up their mess in the kitchen who knows

whatever those simple joys.

We can, God can meet us in those moments.

God actually comes to us in those moments, in the middle of, of whatever

our work is, whether it is our work and our, and our physical work and

our careers, maybe it is in our POAs.

Maybe it isn't our relationships.

God comes to us in those moments.

And.

And we are invited to give him glory in the middle of those moments.

We don't have to wait for the big, uh, how we don't have to

wait to be perfectly dressed.

We don't have to be weighted to be perfectly prepared.

And in those moments, when we feel like we have nothing to offer and we do.

Turn up as ourselves.

We can offer him our ambitions.

We can offer him our tiredness.

We can offer him our hopes.

We can offer him our disappointments as sadness.

We can offer him a happiness.

We can offer him our gratitude.

We can offer him brokenness.

We can offer him anything because when we realize that Christ came

as a baby and babies, don't.

Anything except us.

That's how Jesus wants us.

So I I've had a couple of friends who have, have recently given

birth and it is such a joy to hold a newborn in my arms again.

And I just, there was one moment in particular, couple of weeks ago, where

we had, um, we had lunch at a friend's house and I met a newborn first time.

I was only six weeks old.

And I had him cut it up in my chest.

And by some miracle he fell asleep in my arms.

And I thought, I like this baby knows nothing of me, of the stress that had come

out of this, that morning of the year.

That's led up to that, to that lunch of anything, but would

happily trust and rest in my arms.

And all he wanted in that moment was me as I was and Christ as a baby.

Is that he's inviting us to come to him as we are.

And, and we don't have to give anything.

We don't have to be anything we don't have to.

We don't have to live up to any of the expectations that the

world is throwing on us as women.

And there are a lot of expectations that the world gives to us as women.

You know, are you the perfect wife?

Are you the perfect partner?

Are you the perfect daughter?

Are you earning enough?

Are you speaking up enough?

Are you pretty enough?

Are you, there's so many things questioning whether we enough, but

when Christ comes as a baby and we come to him, as we are even empty

handed, he tells us absolutely.

You are enough.

The final group of characters, otherwise men.

And so that a P in the nativity story, but I will read from the gospel of

Matthew, the visit of the match.

I, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of king

Herod, behold magi from the east, arrived in Jerusalem saying where

is the newborn king of the Jews?

We saw his star at its rising and have come to . When king Herod heard this, he

was greatly troubled and all Jerusalem with him assembling all the chief

priests and the scribes of the people.

He inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They said Tim Bethlehem of Judea would thus, it has been written

through the prophet and you Bethlehem land of Judah are by no means,

least among the rulers of Judah.

Since from you shall come a ruler who is shepherd to my paper.

Inherit called the magi secretly and ascertained from them.

The time of the Star's appearance, he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go

and search diligently for the child.

When you have found him, bring me word that I too may go and doing homage.

After the audience, but the king, they set out and behold the star that

they had seen at its rising proceeded them until it came and stopped

over the place where the child was.

They were overjoyed at seeing the star and on entering the house.

They saw the child with Mary, his mother, they prostrated

themselves and did him homage.

Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of

gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream, not to return to Herod, they departed

for their country by another.

The gospel of the Lord.

So a few things that I got from this story about the magi, what strikes me,

actually, what was pointed out to me many, many years ago was the end of that story.

They were warned in a dream, not true turn.

They departed for their country by another one.

And the thing that strikes me and the thing that I remember every year at

Christmas, after having heard this was whenever we encountered Jesus

were instructed to return home via a different route, but you have to, we are

naturally just changed by that encounter.

We can't go back.

To the way things were.

And the wise men teach me that festival, the story doesn't end on Christmas day,

the story just begins on Christmas day.

And so while we're all really excited about preparing for the Christmas

faced and the Christmas lunch and all the gifts and you know that to

do lists and it's never ending and all the gifts that you have to wrap

and the things that you forget, just remember, that's just the beginning.

You know, it's kind of like the way our wedding days, like when we prep

and prep and prep for a wedding day, then we realize, oh, actually

the work starts after like, you know, the day after, when it's like,

you got to work on the marriage.

And so without spiritualized advents, the beginning of the liturgical year,

this is the beginning for us actually.

And the Wiseman remind us that because they come a few days

after and like us, they, they.

The traveler is and way to our travelers and like them, we don't have to know

exactly what it is that we're looking for.

I think there's this pressure almost, especially for myself, definitely

to almost this, you know, you've got to know what you're looking for.

You've got to know what is, what is.

I desire what it is that you want to do with your career, or what is that you

want to achieve for your family, what it is that you want to do with your life.

And there's almost this pressure of, okay, I need to know what legacy I want to do.

I need to know what the, like the right decision is all the time,

but the Wiseman didn't actually know what they were looking for.

Exactly.

And yet when they trusted and they followed the star that led them to Jesus.

When we trust and we follow the steps and the signs in our

lives that lead us to Jesus.

We can have the most amazing encounter we can expect and ask Christ to change

our hearts, to change our minds, to guide our heart, to guide our minds.

And if there is something unknown in you right now where you're discerning

and you're trying to figure out what's the next step, or what do

I need to do in this situation?

Or what do I need to do in this relationship?

Turn to Christ, even if you don't know what it is that you're

looking for, tell him that.

And when we do encounter.

Him in his humility and his beauty as the child, Jesus, we are unable

to return to our way of living, you know, once, you know, love naturally,

it's going to transform you.

And there's a beautiful, uh, verse from, from the, um, from the lens of St.

James, where he says, be doers of the word, not merely here is who

to save themselves for, if any, uh, heroes of the word and not do it.

They are like those who look at themselves in the mirror for, they

look at themselves and ongoing away, immediately forget what they were like.

But those who look into the perfect law, the law of Liberty and persevere

being not here as who, forget doers, who act, they will be blessed in doing.

And so when we encounter God and we act on that encounter, I mean, when we, when

we start to commit to changing our life, even in little ways, then we automatically

are transformed by that love.

And also then I grounded in that.

And there's a beautiful, um, one of the things that I, I reflect on often my first

ever, well, do you think experience was in cologne and the theme of that we'll

do if they happen to be on the three wise men and three magi, and I remember

sitting this thing to then put Bennett in the final mess and he, and he said to

everybody helped people to discover the true star, which points out the way to us.

Jesus Christ.

Let us.

Seek to know him better and better.

So as to be able to guide others to him with conviction.

And so when I think of the Christmas story, and I think of how that culminates

in this, this final visit and the three men who would have encountered this

little baby and not having known what on earth they were looking for, but

then had to return home a different way.

We are invited as women of God to be bearers of a different type of life.

Especially to those who don't know Jesus.

And we can do that in the life that we live in.

The families that we raise are in the, in the way we operate in our jobs.

The way we operate in our relationships were asked to be counter-cultural

were asked to, to come back a different way, were asked to come

back to the world in a different.

And so those are the three that I've been pondering on over the last few weeks.

And I invite you to do the same, um, as you listen to the gospels over the

next couple of weeks, and you prepare your hearts and your homes for Jesus,

you know, allow Jesus into your life, allow him into the mess, allow him

into the busy-ness, no matter how crime it might be and come as you want.

Even if that means you actually, you never are empty handed actually,

you know, there's, there's no, there's no gift too little for Jesus.

And so come as you are and give to him, whatever it may be that you need to give.

And remember that when you do that truly and openly, he will change your life.

He will ask you to go home a different way and he will, he will change it for the

better, because you'll be transformed by.

God bless you.

Joy.

I think I'm going to cry.

I actually have made, I've had my microphone on mute,

but that was really beautiful.

Thank you.

Um, it just spoke to me, so let's just forget everyone else.

I've just have my preaching right here, but no, honestly.

That is such a powerful message.

And I love the way that you've opened the door for us to see life through

these different characters, because they're, so we often forget don't we,

we hear this story over and over again, every single year for our whole lives

and it can lose its magic or it's.

The holy spirit within that story in the word.

And we know the word is the same yesterday, today forever.

So when we do read that story, it is happening for us right here, right

now, with whatever we're facing.

And I think one of the things you picked up on, which I love,

which I think every woman needs to hear, there are two messages.

Number one, that you are enough, no matter what.

And number two, you're doing better than you think you are.

'cause I think as women, we carry so much, I feel very emotional

because I just listening to you.

I know like I'm doing this retreat and I do the podcast

and people see my Instagram.

Right.

So they see, I think you picked up on something really accurate that people

see things and can make judgements and assumptions about your life.

But the truth behind that is that yeah.

Um, feel convicted just to share this, that coming into Christmas

this year for us, there is a lot of pain and grief in our own family.

So while it looks nice on Instagram, the reality is behind

that there is a lot of grief.

There's a lot of sadness.

We've probably had our toughest two years ever.

Um, in our own personal life, we've had people know there's two suicides this

year of young boys and their families coming into Christmas in my own family.

Um, people who are very close to me who are absolutely heartbroken.

And so we carry that with them because we love them.

But what I'm trying to teach my kids in the midst of all of this

pain that we've had to navigate as a family this year, and is really that

there is a joy and there is a hope.

The circumstance of the darkness of the pain of the suffering of

the grief and that what the Lord's asking us to do is elevate our gaze

to heaven, like lift our guys to heaven, to that bright shining star.

And just this week, actually Venus has shown brighter in the sky.

Have you seen it?

Oh, I have.

Well, it's been cloudy.

It has been brightest in whatever number of years, and

it's incredible the other night.

All this low cloud and above that cloud was this beautiful, bright star.

And exactly what you're saying today.

I had this encounter with the Lord, just standing out in the darkness,

thinking all of that cloud represents.

Our personal pain that we're carrying, but also in the world, the world just

feels so dark and so heavy, but beyond and above, that is the star of Christ.

And this is what he is calling us to this radical rebellious hope and

faith, regardless of our circumstances.

Thank you so much for personally, the way you've just spoken to me.

I feel a little undone opening up to that

price.

I thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity.

You're just such a gift and I hope and pray that

the women are truly blessed.

I know that they will, baby.

That's really open something in my heart today and something for me to go away

and to really pray through as well.

Just those reflections.

So God bless you.

Have a beautiful Christmas yourself.

Thank you, you too.

And to everyone listening to Merry Christmas to everyone.

Thank you to.

Gosh, I don't know about you, but joy has a beautiful way of just expressing

and leading us into a deeper reflection.

So we invite you over the coming week to really sit with that content, to sit

with whatever resonated in your spirit, with what Joyce shared with you today.

I invite you also to download the advent journal.

If you have.

Signed up for the advent retreat series you can do so by clicking on the link

below this video, if you're on our YouTube channel, or if you're listening

on the podcast in the show notes, this link will give you access to the free

download ad bed journal, as well as some other reflections and beautiful content.

Can I invite you also to subscribe to the genius project, YouTube channel,

as well as the genius podcast?

The other thing I'd love to draw your attention to is

the Catholic women's masters.

We've opened up a whole new waiting list for this intake, which will

kick off mid January of next year.

And another group in February.

Now this Catholic women's masterclass is a four month journey of transformation.

So if you're looking to start the new year on the front foot, if you're

wanting to establish some rhythms of renewal, That will see you living a

life of balance and wholeness in Christ.

We'll, I'd love to invite you to join us in the Catholic women's master class.

You can check out more about this in the link below this video, or in the

show notes, you can check out more about the Catholic women's master

class by clicking on the link below this video or through the show notes.

It'd be my great privilege and pleasure to walk with you.

Over these four months, we make fortnightly on zoom every week,

you will receive a new module.

There are eight modules in total, as well as a beautifully designed

workbook for you to work through this content and put into place these

rhythms of renewal in your life.

So it's not just about making use resolutions that never stick.

I really want to encourage you to start your year as you want to end it.

So ladies have a beautiful week.

We'll see you back next.

For our third reflection in the advent series.