Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
“Be like the sunflower that follows every movement of the sun, and keep your eyes always turned towards our good God.” As I sit here reflecting on the readings this evening, the sun is setting out my window and this quote from St. Julie Billiart keeps reverberating in my thoughts. This summer, following the Memorial Day tornadoes, being surrounded by constant reminders of the devastation, we did everything we could to instill new life and energy in our environment. One of the things we did was to plant several sunflower seeds in the landscaping bed by our driveway where we had a large pine tree uprooted and leaning against the house from the might and energy of the storm. Over the course of the following month, we watched as a series of sprouts emerged and grew to eight beautiful sunflowers towering over the struggling bed of shrubs and mulch. I was struck by the beauty of the sunflowers, while the sunflowers reveled at the beauty of the sun. Each morning, as I departed for work, the sunflowers faced the East toward the sunrise; every evening, as I returned home, they had shifted their sight to the West as the sun was approaching the horizon. Our first reading today reminds us of the source of this goodness and beauty:
If they were struck by their might and energy,
let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen. (WIS 4-5)
Truly, as St. Julie suggests, we should take in the lesson of the sunflower to keep our eyes on God; just like when Peter walks on water (MT 14:29) at the calling of Jesus--for a few moments at least, until of course he begins to doubt and takes his eyes off Christ. Perhaps also, the sunflower looks to the sun because it proclaims the glory of God with the rest of the heavens as it shines light over the Earth. May we all celebrate the goodness of our good God in all that we encounter in our day today.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God!
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. (PS 19:2a, 4-5a)
Abundant Blessings,
Brandon Meyer