Jesus notices some fisherman who are having a bad day on the water. He gives them some tips on improving their catch and suddenly their nets are full. They don't get much opportunity to savour their unlikely success because he tells him to leave it all behind and follow him. He promises that they will be fishers of people in the future and they buy it.
This is a classic New Testament story, and in fact there are lots of gospels vignettes about boats and fish from the lake or "sea" called Galilee. As of last week Jesus and his disciples could be charged with illegal fishing in Israel because there aren't many fish left. After centuries of sustainable fishing for tilapia, or "St. Peter's fish" on this freshwater body the fishery has been closed because the stocks are in danger of collapse. As usual the humans who are affected are blaming other factors, including predatory birds. Of course we humans are never to blame.
I often attempt to make the connection between environmental issues and our faith response as Christians. It's not hard to connect the dots on this one.
What is your reaction to this story?
2 comments:
The birds are being blamed? Give me a break! It's a sad story and one that we hear over and over again, all over the world. When will we learn to accept responsibility?
Often there is a grain of truth to the "blame game." So cormorants eat lots of fish in Galilee and seals eat fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The trouble is that humans are far more adept at catching them than other critters, but don't want to admit that we are part of the problem. You are correct with your question Deb. When do we accept responsiblity?
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