By Sauline Odhach- CLC in Kenya
When I look back at my experience in Rome, I recognize it as a moment of deep interior encounter and profound grace. Walking, praying and discerning together as pilgrims reminded me again that God truly speaks in history, in community, and in the simple daily movements of the heart. Rome opened in me a new tenderness for listening — not only listening to God — but listening to one another as companions on a shared journey. In those days, I felt the CLC charism not only as an idea or structure, but as a real living body — diverse, rooted, contemplative, and missionary.
One moment that touched me strongly was realizing how the universal CLC family carries hope across cultures, languages and continental contexts — yet we are profoundly one. That unity was not uniformity; it was communion in mission. It awakened in me a deeper desire to live the CLC pillars more concretely, especially in apostolic presence, discernment and communal spiritual depth. I sensed a call to courage: to take small but real steps that incarnate hope where I am planted.
Today, the echo of Rome accompanies my daily life and my local community. I am more attentive, more available interiorly, and more committed to being a pilgrim of hope in very ordinary Kenyan realities — especially among young people, where art, faith, culture and Ignatian spirituality can meet as a new language of mission. The Rome experience did not end in Rome — it continues unfolding in the everyday choices, conversations, and communal discernment that invite us to see all things new in Christ.
