Something That Helps Me Follow Christ
By Fr. John Roderick, F.S.C.B.
August, 2022
In mid-June, while I was homebound following surgery, a friend came over to the rectory for a visit to see how I was recovering. During his visit, I shared my experience of the surgery and how it was impacting almost every aspect of my day-to-day life: the difficulties and discomforts, the swelling in my leg and the disrupted nights of sleep, as well as the very special attention and care I was receiving from my brother priests.
At a certain point I decided to invite him onto the back deck to enjoy the beautiful view of the Flatiron mountains. When we got seated, I shared how the deck had become the place where I would spend most of the day praying the breviary, reading books, and enjoying the company of friends who would come over to visit. For the first part of the recovery, my world was quite limited to the rectory and its surroundings: the grandeur of the still snow-covered mountains, the fascinating open space filled with native grasses, the variety of cacti and flowers, and the passing rabbits, birds and occasional coyote were a great company. “Do you know that those sunflower plants in your backyard follow the sun all throughout the day?,” my friend asked me. I must confess that I did not know this fact. He explained to me how, during the night, they position themselves to face the east to receive the first morning sun and then gradually accompany the movement of the sun westward throughout the day. This fact really struck me.
Over the next few weeks of my recovery, I began watching every sunflower plant that I could get my eyes on. I needed to verify my friend’s amateur scientific affirmation. I would watch the flowers every morning and afternoon everywhere I went: from the back deck at the rectory, in front of the houses on my drive to the parish, and throughout Broomfield.
After a few days, I became aware that God was using the sunflower and its following of the sun to remind me of my deepest desire to follow Christ throughout my day. Christ is the sun of my life, and He is constantly shining the light of His truth and the warmth of His mercy upon me. I desire to be just like this sunflower plant, following His light and warmth all throughout the day. Throughout these summer months, the sunflower has been a constant reminder of how I desire to live, letting my life be determined by the Sun. I am aware that my life can be beautiful if I let it soak up the light and warmth of God.
During the time of recovery from surgery this summer, I learned how important and vital is the presence of my brother priests and friends in my life. They are a sign of this Sun for me. Through the common life of prayer and friendship that we live together, and the many meaningful encounters with my friends, I am constantly invited to look at Christ and His mercy towards my life. It is very special to see how God uses these people as the privileged vehicle through which He accompanies me, and meets me in my distraction and invites me to look at Him. I am reminded again that only by looking at Christ’s mercy can I begin to overcome many of my reactive and partial judgments of people and difficult situations that I have to face everyday and begin to love and accept all the people I meet.
While driving home from a recent retreat in Rapid City with my brother priests, we came across miles of fields of sunflowers, all looking up in the same direction at the sun. A great desire stirred up in my heart to invite everyone I meet to look for and to follow the presence of Christ, the Sun, who desires to lead us to the truth of who we are as His beloved children, and bathe us with the warmth of His Divine Mercy.
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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
