The way of imagination

  Introduction      Have you ever traveled to a different country?   I don’t mean a country like the U.S.A. which is not all that different, but a truly foreign country – one where people speak another language, and where this strange language was all you could see on signs and menus.   You might have felt a little lost or disoriented at first.   You might have been pleasantly surprised by a resident of that country speaking to you in English.   If you were lucky, perhaps this person became your guide and helped you to feel at ease in your new surroundings and perhaps taught you how to order your favourite local dish – and make purchases – in the native language.      Something like this happened at Pentecost – the Jewish festival during which the followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way.   Actually, it was a crowd of Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman empire who had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival – they were the ones who had an

  Scripture text : St. Luke’s Gospel 5.1-11      You’ve most probably heard about Jesus – whenever you find yourself in church, or maybe on TV or websites.   Perhaps you think that Jesus is a good thing, either for people who have time for prayer and religious stuff (like retired folk) or for kids.   Adult life is busy – perhaps you’ve got a career, a family and many different responsibilities (and hobbies).   You’ve got a life!   Whether or not it’s going great, it may be hard to see what anything in your life has to do with Jesus.   Surely, you may think, Jesus is fine for people who have nothing else to do, for kids who need to learn how to behave and, of course, for priests who are full-time “Jesus-people”.   Today’s Scripture passage is about a man named Simon (a.k.a. “Peter”), a fisherman from a village in northern Palestine called Capernaum, located by the Lake of Galilee.   One of Simon’s friends has offered to tell the story as best they remember it…      At the time, I