Upon reading together the text of Pope Francis’ address to the Movement last October, our School of Community was struck by the Pope’s request that we participate in the “prophecy for peace”. We wondered together what that could mean for us, a tiny community in Nashville, TN consisting of less than ten people. As we read about and were moved by large public gestures organized by communities in places like New York and Denver, we wondered how we could contribute to such a provocation.

Small as our community may be, our desire to respond to the Pope’s request was strong, so we met to brainstorm what our local gesture might look like. A suggestion that emerged from the discussion was the possibility of “teaming up” with other lay movements present in our diocese. It was an idea both out of necessity (we felt too small to do much by ourselves) and curiosity: what could such a unity bring forth? Since we already had a close acquaintance with the couple that leads the local Regnum Christi group, we decided to reach out to them to see if they would be interested in organizing something with us.

We were happy to see that our friends from Regnum Christi were enthusiastic about the idea. Walking into our first meeting with the Regnum Christi leaders, I had some pretty grand ideas of what our “gesture for peace” might look like. After tossing around a few ideas, we settled on a simple proposal: we would gather to pray a rosary for peace followed by a simple pot-luck breakfast in which we would make a point to get to know those that belonged to other movements. We invited some of the other ecclesial movements that are present in our diocese to join us as well.

This process started months ago, and at last we had our “Rosary for Peace” at a local parish last weekend. We didn’t know quite what to expect, or if anyone would even show up. But even with all of our limits, we looked forward with curiosity to see what would happen.

In the end, it was a simple, but very beautiful moment of prayer and fellowship. About twenty people attended, mostly from CL and Regnum Christi, plus one person from the local Third Order Dominican chapter. People were generally very intrigued by the idea of praying together, and it was a joy to discover more about the Church’s many charisms.

For me, a few things were clear. First, I understood what we mean when we refer to our “ironic attempts”. Our desire is always greater than what our human capacity can make happen, and yet, miraculously, reality reveals more than I ever thought it could through my attention to these attempts. I’m glad that my initial grand ideas did not pan out because what happens in reality is always more beautiful. Second, I was surprised by the desire of those present (and many who could not attend but reached out to express their enthusiasm for the idea) to team up again. I heard many people say, “Next time we do this, we can…” This shared desire helped me understand what it means for CL (and each of the charisms) to be at the service of the Church. Finally, we left our time together with the sense that this was the beginning of something new. We walked away from our new friends in Regnum Christi saying things like, “See you soon!” Our little “gesture for peace” was not just checking off the Pope’s request from our to-do list. It was, in fact, a sign that unity is possible.

Meghan, Nashville, TN