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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 #480: Persistence
Persistence is key. Aim to train every day. God will throw curveballs across your plate and monkey wrenches into your workings. He loves to insert “rest days.”
Next year I’ll hit my 40th year of doing martial arts. But just a year or so ago I finally realized that, if you program a training regiment that has two weekly rest days in it you’ll generally get 2.5 or 3 rest days per week on average because things happen. You have to work late or go in early. The toilet breaks and you have to fix it. The dog has to go to the vet. Sharp as a tack, ain’t I? Nothing escapes me, does it? Whoo boy…talk about embarrassing.
Please don’t let it take you 39 years to figure this out.: Aim to train daily and let God insert rest days.
And, as I’ve mentioned a few times in recent months, don’t be afraid to take a training day off to do a chore or chores. In Rough ‘n’ Tumble, swinging axes, digging, raking, hammering, hauling, etc. are a part of the training. So are forms of outdoor recreation, like hiking, camping, canoeing, and so forth. If you can imagine David Crockett, Tecumseh, Molly Pitcher, Theodore Roosevelt, or some other old-timer doing it, you’re probably safe calling it Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts practice.
I took five days “off” this week to go camping with my grandson and work on my deck. See the photo set on the left. I’m so glad I did both of those things. Because I learned some new plants, got some much needed R&R, had a great break from electronics, and worked a bunch of muscles I didn’t know I even had.
That’s how you start to get into the old-time mindset.
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Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time 10/19/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8
Luke 18:1-8 World English Bible
Jesus spoke a parable to them that they must always pray and not give up, 2 saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man. 3 A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’ 4 He wouldn’t for a while; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ ”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. 7 Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
As many of you know, forty years ago my life was in shambles. I was irreligious, lazy, selfish, short-tempered, and grossly obese. My passions and vices had free reign. Deep down, I was repulsed by the person I saw in the mirror. I wanted to be a different person. I wanted to be spiritual, hard-working, calm, and physically fit. Time and time again I would start some sort of plan – a self-help strategy, a New Year’s resolution, a diet and work-out program, or what-have-you – but I’d soon get discouraged and quit.
I continue to struggle with being the servant God wants me to be. I’m very much a work in progress, and I plan to be a work in progress until the day I enter the sleep of peace. But I found great success is the arena of weight loss just by being persistent. I discovered that, if I had a bad day and ate too much, or skipped my daily exercise, all I had to do was just say, “oh well, I’ll do better tomorrow.” Rather than allowing myself to get discouraged – rather than spiraling into self-pity and defeatism – I found success by simply dusting myself off and starting again in humility. In this way I was able to lose, and keep off, 80 pounds of weight. I weigh the same 155 lbs. today that I weighed in 1989 after I hit my goal.
I discovered that persistence is the key.
In fact, for us, as imperfect people living in a fallen world, persistence is the key to virtually everything. Especially when it comes to our spiritual development. This is why Jesus tells us that we must never give up in prayer. If we persistently beg for what is good, true, and beautiful, we will get a little bit stronger in service to God each time we pray. Does a weightlifter go out every now and then, when the spirit moves him, and try to pick up a great weight? Of course not. He lifts what he can, getting incrementally stronger, day over day, week over week. If we hit a plateau in our weight loss journey, do we just give up? Or do we stay the course?
There will be hiccups in our prayer life. If our attention flags, we must rein it back in. If God grants us a portion of what we prayed for, we should give thanks and praise for the measure we received. If God answers our prayers by allowing us to realize that our desire was ill-conceived, short-sighted, or selfish, we mustn’t get discouraged. Rather, we should reflect on what we’ve realized, amend, and redirect our prayers toward the proper aim.
In today’s reading St. Paul says, “be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient” and that just about sums it up. Prayers, brothers and sisters, aren’t wishes. Prayers are spiritual fitness. Prayers remodel our aspirations to be in accord with God’s will. Prayers fortify us against sin. Prayers encourage us to be thankful for what we have, and to be filled with hope for the future. Prayers strengthen our reliance on God so that, when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith on Earth.