One night, a man was driving on a lonely Texas road when his engine sputtered to a stop. He got out of the car and popped the hood. He stood staring at the engine when he heard a voice: “It’s your fuel pump.”
“Who said that?” There were two horses standing in a fenced field alongside the road.
“It’s your fuel pump,” one horse said, “Tap it with your flashlight and try again.”
He tapped the fuel pump, turned the key and the car started.
At a service station in the next town he told the story to a mechanic: “A horse you say? Was it by any chance a white horse?”
“Yes it was. Am I crazy?”
“No you ain’t crazy. As a matter of fact, you’re lucky! That black horse doesn’t know beans about cars.”
In Sunday’s Gospel, when the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, they didn’t think he knew beans either.
To “not know beans” about something means that you are very stupid or ignorant; that you don’t know the first thing about something or other.
The friends and neighbors of Jesus expected him to perform some miracles; their familiarity with him blinded them to his true purpose and identity. Jesus came for everybody, not just them. They didn’t know beans about him and really didn’t want to know.
The people were filled with fury (destructive rage). They wanted to harm Jesus but he passed through the midst of them and went away. In walking away, Jesus set an example about what to do in some difficult situations; you just walk away from them only because you might make them worse.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I had lived in Jesus’ day, I would have responded to him better? I would have changed my ways?”
It would be wonderful if it were true, but how have you reacted when someone challenged your behavior? Or criticized you .. ?
Did you calmly and politely say, “Thank you for setting me straight?” Do you immediately commit yourself to change your behavior? (Who do you think you are?)
In just 12 days we will begin our observance of Lent. Now might be a good time to begin deciding what you are going to repent of this Lent. I don’t mean what are you going to give up for 40 days and then go right back to when Lent is over. What attitude, what action, what way of doing things are you going to ask God to help you permanently root out of your life? You might consider using Sunday’s second reading as a guide — St. Paul’s description of love.
Most of us would probably say that we are loving people. In reality, a few are good at it. There are all kinds of things that we do much better: impatient; unkind; gossip; jealous; inflated; quick-tempered; brood over injuries; the capital sins of pride, avarice (greed), lust, envy, gluttony, anger, sloth. None of those have anything to do with love. St. Paul’s beautiful description of love is a portrait of Jesus.
If you want to know what real love is, get to know Jesus. Look to him and see what a life dedicated to God looks like, and go do likewise.
If you don’t know Jesus, you don’t know beans.