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What’s the weekly mettle maker?
Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.” Want to cultivate your rough ‘n’ tumble mettle? Complete one of our 100 Feats!
Mettle maker #468:Up Against a Wall
After guns and knives, the deadliest weapons in the crime statistics are walls, floors, and hard surfaces in the environment. You need to get off the wall, and fast. Act quickly before your head gets banged against the wall and you get concussed or killed.
Standing Wall Press: Take an over-hook with one arm as you either place the other forearm against his throat, or if you prefer, use the free hand to take him by the throat (placing the thumb and middle finger on the mastoid processes of either side). Your overhook anchors one side and acts like a hinge. Cramming and pushing with the other hand “opens the door.” Execute a Split Step and back out of the opening.
Seated Wall Press: Just as you did when standing, take an overhook on one side. Place the opposite hand on the ground and execute an Get-up. The leg pulled through will be stopped by the wall. That’s okay; just put the knee on the ground adjacent to the wall. Pull in the outstretched knee, place it on the ground right next to the other knee, and then stand up. Be careful to rise at the same rate as your attacker. If you get higher than him, he may get under you, grab your legs, and pull you right back down. Once you’re standing, use the Standing Wall Press technique if needed.
See the photo sets below, and the video above, for details.
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Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 7/27/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Genesis 18:20-32, Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8, Colossians 2:12-14, Luke 11:1-13
Luke 11:1-13 World English Bible
1 When he [Jesus] finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say,
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
Bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’ ”
5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ 7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? 8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
It's scary to be pinned with your back against a wall by an aggressive person. You feel trapped, unable to move, and vulnerable. But as a priest who is also a self-defense expert, I assure you that this situation feels more compromising than it is. In five minutes, I could teach you how to quickly and safely escape this awful position. Unfortunately, however, you would quickly forget what you learned without persistent practice. Persistence. That’s the key.
Persistence is almost always the key to success in any endeavor. Not least in the domain of prayer. A prayer is not a simple request. It is not a coin that goes into the slot of God’s vending machine so that we can make our selections. It is a religious practice. And as you may have heard said many times, “practice makes perfect.”
God reveals to Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah are filled with wickedness and are about to be destroyed. Abraham persists in questioning God’s mercy with regard to the people there. Again and again Abraham presses God for more forbearance and mercy for the innocent. At length God is merciful. Lot and his daughters, although far from being perfect, are liberated from Sodom and spared. Abraham’s persistence pays off. And Jesus gives us the parable of the man who begs a friend to loan him three loaves of bread. He says, “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.” Persistence is the key.
Prayer is not a technical support ticket for the help desk in the sky, or a flare gun signaling for rescue. Prayer is a religious practice. Practicing a sport doesn’t make the game turn out in your favor; it makes you a better player. Practicing piano doesn’t transform the piano or the audience so that performances go well. Practice makes the pianist a better artist.
In a similar way, the religious practice called prayer makes us better Christians. Like Elijah, through prayer we learn to hear and heed the still, small voice of God amid the fires and earthquakes of this life (1 Kings 19:12) even when our backs are up against a wall. Through prayer we may receive a miracle. Or we might just find a way to adjust our expectations, accept a difficult truth, or be at peace in troubling circumstances. Maybe we’ll simply learn to be more patient, more calm, or more accepting.
Jesus asks us to pray persistently using the Lord’s Prayer – to pray that his name be kept holy, to pray that his Kingdom comes, and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Jesus doesn’t say that we get our heart’s desire. He says we receive the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, the Lord’s Prayer especially, we learn to conform ourselves to his plans and accept his ways. What we stand to receive is the Holy Spirit, which is a greater gift than getting our way.