Week 2: 6th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2023 and Holy Communion

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6th annual Mettlecraft month is here!

What is “mettlecraft?” Mettlecraft is the art, skill, and cultivation of endurance, unflagging determination, and resolute strength of mind, body, and spirit.

This year’s Mettlecraft Month challenge is to walk a marathon or, if that’s too much, to set a personal walking record appropriate to your current health status. Post your efforts in the comments or send an email to mitch@heritageartsinc.com with your progress notes and I’ll include them here!

Week 2 UPDATE: I tried to walk the Richmond Marathon yesterday. Unfortunately the pace trucks caught me at the 16-mile mark (about 4:40). For those who haven’t done a marathon, the trucks that break down the course (gathering up water and medical stations, picking up trash, removing traffic barricades, etc.) follow the participants through the course. They proceed at the slowest pace speed (the equivalent of a 16-minute mile) to ensure prompt closure of the event at the 7-hour mark. Local police reopen traffic behind them. If you don’t stay on pace, you have to walk without traffic control and race support. I’m a heart attack survivor, so it would’ve been very unwise for me to continue walking without water and medical staff. Even though I didn’t finish, it was a fun event, and I’m happy that Heritage Arts raised $100 to support Sportsbackers youth fitness programs. Photo set below — click on the pics to view my comments.

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Want to reminisce about Mettlecraft Months of the past? Here are some links…

5th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2022

4th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2021

3rd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2020

2nd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2019

1st Annual Mettlecraft Month 2018

Mettle Maker #379

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Did you ever hear of Jack LaLanne? The incredible Jack LaLanne was a fitness phenomenon, an unparalleled paragon of power, an American physical culture icon. To learn more about this remarkable man, check out his website. But if you want just a quick overview, here are just a few of his feats and firsts:

Jack Lalanne

• 1930 AAU Wrestling Championship

• 1936 AAU wrestling medal

• 1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA.

• 1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes

• 1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, this time shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat

• 1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.

• 1984 Age 70: Handcuffed and shackled, towed 70 boats with 70 people 1 ½ miles.

• Opened the first modern, coed health spa

• Inventor of the Hindu Jump calisthenic

• Inventor of the first leg extension machine

• Invented the first weight selector for cable machines

• Conceived the design for Smitch Machine

• First, and longest running, nationally syndicated exercise TV show (1951-1985)

• The first to sell vitamins and exercise equipment on television

• First to teach a revolving 2-3 week body building training program

• Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award

• Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Y.M.C.A. Impact Award, and too many more awards to list

In his honor I put together a Jack LaLanne constitutional made up of 7 of his favorite calisthenics (based on videos of his TV show and a review of available published materials).: Push-ups, Jumping Jacks, Standing Side Leg Raises, High Steps, Knee Raises, Calf Raises, and Hindu Jumps (which he invented!). Complete 25 of each. Jack often advocated 6-8 reps sets for beginners and 10-15 reps or more for those more advanced. See the video above-left for the details.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts — The Short Circling Drill is a great way to hardwire “move while you hit and hit while you move.” Get in front of your heavy bag. Throw a Jab-Cross combo as you circle, then Jab-Jab-Cross, then Jab-Jab-Jab-Cross, and finally 4 Jabs and a Cross. Then change stance and repeat back the other way. Put in three rounds. When you get done, try the constitutional above. Jack was a wrestler after all! Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program! For an intro on Heritage Art’s distance learning programs, watch the video above.

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — In a survival situation, how do you turn a scrap of cloth into cordage? I was in the middle of shooting a video on this topic when guess what popped into my YouTube feed? The video below. Here Creek Stewart (one of my favorite outdoor skills instructors) illustrates how to spiral cut a small animal skin to make cordage.

You can also cut cloth this way — see the diagram above — then reverse twist it into cordage. For a video showing how to reverse wrap cordage, click here (Creek Stewart again — he’s a powerhouse). Looking for a comprehensive adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 11/12/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Wis 6:12-16, Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13

Matthew 25:1-13  World English Bible

Jesus said, “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3  Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4  but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5  Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.† 8  The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9  But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10  While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. 11  Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12  But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13  Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

What is a virgin?  A young woman who has not lain with a man, symbolizing a man or woman who is not promiscuous.  This is someone who is in control of his or her behavior.  Ten is the number of the Ten Commandments, what the Hebrews called “The Ten Words” or “The Ten Sayings” and ten is the number associated with malkut, the Jewish mystical concept of physical creation.

Thus we see that the ten virgins are all following the rules.  They are pure in their worldly behavior.  But self-control, although praiseworthy, faces inward.  Discipline is a type of light, but it is a containment rather than an outpouring of light.  It’s also necessary for the spirit that inspired the discipline to have an outburst.  The virgins, therefore, carry lamps so that their light can shine forth. 

This part of the parable is an echo of Matthew 5:14-16. “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” It’s not enough for us to be in control of our behavior.  We must go into the world and shine our light into dark places, into prisons, hospitals, and churches, into the lives of disordered people, and into the structures of benighted institutions, filling them with God’s light: Goodness, Beauty, and Truth, Faith, Hope, and Love.    

In Jesus’ parable, all of the virgins fall asleep.  We are all imperfect.  We are bound to need rest, and our focus is destined to wax and wane.  But if we are wise, we will be ready with extra reserves of fuel.  We won’t, like the foolish virgins, expect others to give us some of their oil.  But what is this mysterious oil, and what is this lamp we are expected to carry?

   The oil is the understanding and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior who lives in us and in whom we live.  We can’t just follow the laws and be virgins.  St. Paul says in Galatians 2:19-20, “For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”  We can’t do this ourselves.  We must be fueled by union with him.

And what is the lamp?  In Revelation 21:23 we read that the New Jerusalem, “has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb.”  As we await our Savior’s return, let us hold high the light of the Christ and let it shine into every dark place.

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 † 25:7 The end of the wick of an oil lamp needs to be cut off periodically to avoid having it become clogged with carbon deposits. The wick height is also adjusted so that the flame burns evenly and gives good light without producing a lot of smoke.

6th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2023 Week 1 and Holy Communion

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6th annual Mettlecraft month is here!

During Mettlecraft month — every November — we work just a little bit harder than usual. This year’s Mettlecraft Month challenge is to walk a marathon or, if that’s too much, to set a personal walking record appropriate to your current health status. Post your efforts in the comments or send an email to mitch@heritageartsinc.com with your progress notes and I’ll include them here!

What is “mettlecraft?” Mettlecraft is the art, skill, and cultivation of endurance, unflagging determination, and resolute strength of mind, body, and spirit.

Want to reminisce about Mettlecraft Months of the past? Here are some links…

5th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2022

4th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2021

3rd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2020

2nd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2019

1st Annual Mettlecraft Month 2018

It might not be too lake to walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here!

Mettle Maker #379

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Did you ever hear of a Kansas Burpee? For those who are looking for a little something extra to spice things up, try knocking out 25 Kansas Burpees. Watch the video on the left, give a go, and let me know how it went in the comments.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts — try the Kansas Burpee challenge above. The diabolical Kansas Burpee comes straight from the mind of the Immortal Mark Hatmaker, the greatest old-school fighting coach on the planet. 25 of them is plenty. When you get there, let me know how you feel.

Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program! For an intro on Heritage Art’s distance learning programs, watch the video above.

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Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Engage yourself, and your kids, in the spirit of Fall by stamping with leaves. Last week I suggested you picking up a leaf you can’t identify and sketching it in your training journal as a way to learn about a new tree or plant. This week I’d like to suggest using leaves to stamp images into your training journal. This is another way to switch on the learning process, especially for kids and adults who aren’t particularly comfortable drawing. It’s also a great family activity. The photos above were taken out in my backyard while my wife was helping a two-year-old she nannies stamp leaves on paper. Outdoor play with natural materials has incredible benefits, including improved gross motor skills, healthy eating, eyesight, cognitive development, academic performance, self-confidence, and immune system health, as well as lessening of ADHD symptoms and stress levels.

Looking for a comprehensive adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the All Souls Day, Sunday 11/5/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Isaiah 25:6-10a, Psalm 103:8,10,13-14,15-16,17-18, Romans 8:31b-39, John 6:51-58

John 6:51-58  World English Bible

Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. 54  He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55  For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56  He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. 57  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live because of me. 58  This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Across a hundred millennia, humanity has developed a myriad of theories about death – reincarnation, metempsychosis, Norse Valhalla, Greek Hades, Jewish sheol, and so forth.  In like manner, the fathers of the Christian church, starting with the apostle Paul and flowing downstream, espoused a truly unique viewpoint.

They began with the idea that nothing can move directly from pre-existence into being.  Their logic was simple.  You can’t say, “On March the 12th Fred went from being nothing to being something” because, prior to March the 12th, there was no Fred.  “Being nothing” is a contradiction.  Fred can’t move from nothingness to somethingness because there was no Fred to move.  Something cannot materialize out of nothing. 

Drawing on Aristotle and Plato’s concept of forms, the Christian church fathers – St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and many others – elegantly solved the problem of creation in the following way.  Fred is caused.  He grew out of the material contributions of his father and mother.  Everything has a cause.  Otherwise people, objects, animals, and so on would just pop into and out of existence.  But, they posited, if we trace Fred back a bit farther, he began with a gleam in his parents’ eye.  This is a third state of being sometimes referred to as the prima materia, Latin for “first matter.”  This is the state of non-being or potential.  We all acknowledge this state when we say things like, “Fred is not living up to his potential” or when we look at a dingy dresser and see what it could be with a coat of paint.

First matter is like an object over which a sheet is draped.  If you throw a sheet over a chair, the sheet resembles a chair.  If you lay it over a bust of Edgar Allen Poe, it looks like Poe. Anyone who makes or creates anything first works in the realm of potential, conceiving a work of art, a song, a building, an invention, etc.  If there was no potential, then nothing could become.  The engine of reality would cease to run, and Being itself would cease to be.  Only God, as the first cause, can bring something out of nothing.  He brought into being potential itself, the prima materia, and this state of potential is the foundation upon which existence rests. 

In Genesis 3:21, after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit, we read, “The LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.”  Because they sinned, our first parents were given corruptible skins, bodies that deteriorate.  This is a metaphor for the fact that everything that exists in the universe now has a “corruptible skin.”  All things die, all metals oxidize and rust, all foods rot, and all suns burn out.  All things decay.¹ 

The miracle of Christian theology is at once starkly logical and filled with the beauty, hope, and love of the Holy Ghost.  St. Paul sums all this up in Romans 4:17, saying that God, “gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.”

My friends, Fred’s birth is the draping of his potential with a sheet – the receiving of his imperfect garment of skin.  Conversely, his death is his undraping.  When Fred dies, he doesn’t cease to exist – he merely goes back to the realm of potential, back to prima materia.  And there he remains, awaiting the blessed hope of the resurrection when, by the grace of God, he may realize his full potential and receive a new and incorruptible garment of glory. 

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 ¹  St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “Likewise, when we have put off that dead and ugly garment that was made for us from irrational skins…we throw off every part of our irrational skin along with the removal of the garment.”  And St. Augustine said, “Adam and Eve, who were stripped of their first garment of innocence, deserved by their mortality garments of skin. For the true honor of man is to be the image and the likeness of God.”   https://catenabible.com/gn/3

A Scheme, a Sketch, and Two Paths: Mettle Maker #378 and Holy Communion for 10/29/23

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special event for mettlecraft month in november

Walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here!

Mettle Maker #378

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — An entry level training plan for novices, seniors, rehabbers, and the seriously overweight. This week we got a new sign up to Heritage Self-Defense Distance Learning program who, although he used to complete triathlons, finds himself over 60 and seriously overweight. And we have another person in exactly the same boat who recently started coming out to the martial arts club here in Richmond. It’s really rather common. Work and life get in the way, the pounds go on, and then it’s hard to know where to start. You have no operating manual for the body you find yourself in — stiff, prone to tendonitis, injury, and cramps, lacking in explosiveness and endurance, slower to recover, etc. Older bodies have lower throughput and much lower fault tolerance than younger ones. If you an older person jumps in and start doing the stuff he or she used to do, injury is almost certain. Here’s a simple plan for most anybody looking for a place to start.

Entry Level Fitness Program for Novices, Seniors, Rehabbers, and the Seriously Overweight.

Note: Always see your doctor before starting a new fitness program.

1. Walk as often as you can, daily if possible. Walking is the safest form of exercise and the best way to shed pounds. By the mile, walking burns the same calories as running with far less stress on the body. Walking was the way old-time boxers made weight, and it still works. Start with a couple of blocks and work your way up slowly. Solidify your gains for 5 days — in other words, no more than one increase in time/speed/distance per 5 days.

2. Eat 3 square meals a day and one snack. Counting calories is tedious and unnecessary. Just eat 3 squares a day and a snack, each containing between 10 and 20 grams of fat (that’s 1 - 2 tbsp of butter, 2 tbsp mayo or salad dressing, etc.). Less than 10 and you'll be hungry in an hour, more than 20 is just extra calories. Eat reasonable portions. Breakfast might be a glass of 2% milk and a slice of whole wheat toast with a tbsp of butter. Lunch, might be a peanut butter sandwich and an apple. A reasonable dinner might be a piece of meat the size of your hand, a roll, two cups of veggies, and a small dessert (a square of Jell-O, a scoop of ice cream, etc.). You may drink one 8 oz. glass of 2% milk per day if desired, but other than that, drink calorie-free beverages only. For an evening snack, pick something that's bulky and low in calories. I prefer reduced fat microwave popcorn. I've eaten a bag per night for over 20 years! The only hard rule is 10 to 20 grams of fat per meal, which = 400 to 800 calories per day from fat (that’s 20% to 40% of your 2,000 calorie/day diet). Eat this way and the weight will fall off of you.

3. Begin keeping a handwritten training journal. Every time you exercise, record it in your journal. If desired, record your weight and/or measurements so that you can see your progress. If you track weight, only weigh once per week. Normal daily fluctuations are morale killers. Use a spiral notebook or, if you’re planning on signing up for our distance learning program, a 3-ring binder and looseleaf paper so that your log can be easily scanned and emailed for review.

4. If desired, do a few sessions a week of entry-level calisthenics. This is optional at this stage. Watch the video on the upper left and perform exercises 1 through 12 as often as you like, even daily if you think it’s fun. Add exercises 13, 14 & 15 if/when you think you’re ready. If and when you do so, increase your reps up to a max of 20, taking care to solidify your gains for 5 days — in other words, no more than one increase in rep count per exercise per 5 days.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts - Sixth Annual Mettlecraft Month begins next week! Last year we the challenge was to complete the constitutional called “#86” in under 20 minutes. Maybe you missed last year, and you’d like to give it a try? If so, watch the video on the right. Anyway, this year’s challenge is a long walk. I’m going to try and walk the Richmond Marathon (see info at the top of this post if you started in the middle). But if that’s too much for you, see if you can do a half marathon, or maybe you just try to double what you normally do in a given day. If you want to engage with Mettlecraft Month 2023, you have all of November to see how long a walk you can complete. Just make sure that, whatever you do, listen to your body, stop as soon as you get any discomfort, don’t get hurt, and share your endeavors in the comments. What does walking have to do with martial arts? Well, as I said in the section above (and probably 3 times per month over the last year), walking was how old-time boxers made weight and increased their endurance. It works!

Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Fall is here. PIck up a leaf and sketch it in your training journal. PIck up a leaf you can’t identify. Get out a wild plant book, identify the leaf, and sketch in your training journal. Nothing will cement that leaf’s identity and structure into your mind better than drawing it! On the left are some of the sketches from my training journal. Looking for a comprehensive outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 10/29/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Ex 22:20-26, Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51, 1 Thes 1:5c-10, Mt 22:34-40

Matthew 22:34-40  World English Bible Catholic Edition

But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. 35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’* 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’* 40  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

“There are two paths, one of life and one of death, and the difference is great between the two paths. Now the path of life is this—first, thou shalt love the God who made thee, thy neighbour as thyself, and all things that thou wouldest not have done unto thee, do not thou unto another.  And the doctrine of these maxims is as follows. Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies.  Fast on behalf of those that persecute you; for what thank is there if ye love them that love you? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  But love them that hate you, and ye will not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts.  If any one give thee a blow on thy right cheek, turn unto him the other also, and thou shalt be perfect; if any one compel thee to go a mile, go with him two; if a man take away thy cloak, give him thy coat also; if a man take from thee what is thine, ask not for it again, for neither art thou able to do so.  Give to every one that asketh of thee, and ask not again, for the Father wishes that from his own gifts there should be given to all.

My child, fly from everything that is evil, and from everything that is like to it. Thou shalt not exalt thyself, neither shalt thou put boldness into thy soul. Thy soul shall not be joined unto the lofty, but thou shalt walk with the just and humble. Accept the things that happen to thee as good, knowing that without God nothing happens. 

Seek out day by day the favor of the saints, that thou mayest rest in their words; thou shalt not desire schism, but shalt set at peace them that contend; thou shalt not abandon the commandments of the Lord, but shalt guard that which thou hast received, neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom; thou shalt confess thy transgressions in the church, and shalt not come unto prayer with an evil conscience. This is the path of life.

But the path of death is this. First of all, it is evil and full of cursing; there are found murders, adulteries, lusts, fornication, thefts, idolatries, soothsaying, sorceries, robberies, false witnessings, hypocrisies, double-mindedness, craft, pride, malice, self-will, covetousness, filthy talking, jealousy, audacity, arrogance; there are they who persecute the good—lovers of a lie, not knowing the reward of righteousness, not cleaving to the good nor to righteous judgment, watching not for the good but for the bad, from whom meekness and patience are afar off, loving things that are vain, following after recompense, having no compassion on the needy, nor laboring for him that is in trouble, not knowing him that made them, murderers of children, corrupters of the image of God, who turn away from him that is in need, who oppress him that is in trouble, unjust judges of the poor, erring in all things. From all these, children, may ye be delivered.”

Brothers and sisters, the words I have just shared with you are almost two thousand years old, and they are excerpted from a short book known as the Didache, which means “the teaching,” and was written in the first century after the Resurrection.  It is considered the first book of Christian teaching.  I hope you can see how it illustrates that, since the earliest days of the church, loving God and our neighbor has been the core of Christian teaching.   

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 * 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5

Reframing: Mettle Maker #377 and Holy Communion for 10/15/23

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special event for mettlecraft month in november

Walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here!

Mettle Maker #377

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Dealing with foot pain. Foot pain is real problem for a huge percentage of the population, especially older adults. The same inability to retain fat and muscle between delicate structures of the body that causes bony hands and turkey neck among older adults also reduces the thickness in the fatty pads of the feet. This can cause subluxation of the cuboid and other issues. Add in some cholesterol reducing drugs and whammo! sore feet. Watch the video on the left for my foot health regimen. Hopefully it’ll get me through walking the Richmond Marathon in a few weeks! BY THE WAY, you get early access to our videos here. This one won’t be available to genpop for about a week. Need a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts - Bracing, framing, and cramming — what are they, and why should I care? What if I told you that a single body mechanic could inform a plethora, a virtual cornucopia, of effective martial arts skills, from ultra-short-range striking to clinch work, to top saddle wrestling escapes? Well, watch the video on the right to get the skinny on bracing, framing, and cramming. DID YOU KNOW that you get early access to our videos here? This one won’t be available to genpop for about a week!

Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Take a fresh look at Bradford Angier’s 1956 classic. 67-years-old and still relevant, Bradford Angier’s How to Stay Alive in the Woods is a classic that should be on everyone’s outdoor skills bookshelf. Check out the table of contents on the left to get a feel for its scope. Used copies of this small but jam-packed favorite go for less than three bucks on Alibris, so there’s no excuse for not getting yourself a copy. I seriously doubt you’ll regret it. Looking for a comprehensive outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 10/15/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 25:6-10a, Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6, Phil 4:12-14, 19-20, Mt 22:1-14

Matthew 22: 1-14  World English Bible Catholic Edition

 Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2  “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son, 3  and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4  Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!” ’ 5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; 6  and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7  When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

8  “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. 9  Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10  Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

11  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, 12  and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. 13  Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ 14  For many are called, but few chosen.”

"For many are called, but few are chosen."  These words reverberate to us down the two millennia since our Savior spoke them.  What is the proper interpretation?  Should we use them to think of ourselves as an elite club?  Some experts suggest that by "chosen" we should interpret "elected."  Are we "chosen" the way that certain politicians are "elected" to office?  Are we "chosen" in the same way that the best athletes are drafted onto sports teams?

To grapple with this question, we should consider first and foremost that there are only so many open seats in a government, and only so many open positions on a sports team.  To elect an official to a position is to exclude everyone else.  The same is true, let’s say, in football.  There are only so many players in the league.  Everyone else is on the sidelines.  This is the way it is with human beings and our ways.  In our games, there is always a winner and a loser.

But not so with the kingdom of God.  His realm is infinite in scope.  In John 14:2 we  hear, "In my father's house are many mansions."  God's separation of the unchosen from the chosen is not an act of exclusion or elitism because in his kingdom there is enough room for everyone.  Choosing one does not exclude another.  God sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to bring everyone to the banquet.  His love for humanity is so great, that he wants everyone to stay for the festivities.  He loves us so much, and so badly wants no one to be left out, that he gave each and every one of us the capacity to be chosen.  All we have to do is genuinely show up and participate. 

In Jesus' parable, he equates our choice to dressing appropriately for a banquet.  I'm sure you've been to events where there are people in attendance who don't even try.  The invitation says "semi-formal attire" but they show up in blue jeans and T-shirts.  Few notice or comment, not even the hosts, on a suit or a dress that’s a little out of style or a touch threadbare.  All they have to do is put in a little bit of effort.  But for these people, that’s just too much to ask.  I think that’s what Jesus is trying to get across in this parable.  We don't have to be perfect to be chosen by God -- all we have to do is sincerely try to follow him and live his ways, to genuinely attempt to give ourselves over to his saving grace.  We can't be holy as God is holy – fair enough.  But we can at least be baptized, step into the robe, and make a sincere attempt to clothe ourselves in holiness. 

In Luke 17:21 we read, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  Inside of each of us, God has graced us with the capacity to listen to his Word, accept his teaching, and stay through the banquet to the end.  The choice is ours.   

A Higher Vantage: Mettle Maker #376 and Holy Communion for 10/8/23

Before we get into this week’s mettle maker, check out these pics from Glen Allen Day 2023. Heritage Arts’ booth was a big success. Hannah and Laura — who just earned their white bandanas in Heritage Self-Defense last week — came out and distributed hundreds of flyers and business cards to the crowd. And get a load of this — our booth was right next to Ghostbusters VA! Neat charity — they go around in costume and collect money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation (and they collect a ton too, by the way)!

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Mettle Maker #376

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Take the longer view. Let’s pursue the direction given by this week’s gospel reading and think a bit about taking the long view with regard to fitness. I sometimes I long for the training sessions I used to do in the old days — the white-out calisthenics, the deep-burning weightlifting sessions, the high contact sparring bouts. But then I remind myself that it’s only by a great deal of luck and a modicum of body awareness that I’m not virtually crippled at age 62. Thank goodness I never lifted the way the CrossFitters do — I never did more than 4 sets of any exercise, never did more than five exercises per session, never did multiple sets to failure in a single session, etc. — and didn’t prolong those habits any longer than it took to sense the approach of permanent damage. As for years of high contact sparring including blows to the head, only time will tell if there is dementia in my future. Don’t be the way I used to be. Take the long view now. Start training with old-school rigor and mindset. For more details that might allow you to plan your own program, read this post. But if you need a free fitness coach to help you, we’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

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This is my forging post.

Martial Arts - Forging posts, pells, and…totem poles? I have a theory. It isn’t based on any real facts, it’s just intuition, wild speculation, and supposition after a lifetime of studying martial arts, indigenous skills, mythology, and world religions. I believe that standing poles — broadly referred to as “totem poles,” which are found in virtually every culture on earth, owe their origin to forging posts and pells used in martial arts.

Pells are standing posts used for weapon practice. Hitting a pell with either live weapons, or actual-weight dummy weapons, is absolutely essential to weapon command and mastery. Here is a great article on pells, with links to even more information, from the ARMA website.

Forging posts are used to practice unarmed strikes and other techniques and to toughen the body. Forging posts are often wrapped with rope and struck with hands, arms, feet, and legs.

A couple of years ago it occurred to me that I should put a face on my forging post. So I carved one out of cedar and screwed it on (I didn’t put one on my pell because I’m not inclined to spend an hour or two carving a face only to destroy it with knives and tomahawks).

I have a hard time believing I’m the first martial artist since the dawn of modern humans 100,000 years ago to have this idea. Read the articles below, courtesy of Wikipedia, to get a feel for the what’s going on with the various types of standing wood poles. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Most of these standing poles have spiritual nuances. But if we know anything about human psychology and anthropology, the spiritual is always practical, and always its origin to necessity. It’s a virtual certainty that the poles went up for some physically functional purpose and the rituals came second. Why would you put up a pole with a face on it? To practice your fighting techniques seems like a good bet!

• Totem Pole — Canada and United States

• Huabiao — China

• Jangseung — Korea

• Roofed pole — Lithuania

• Irminsul — Germany

• Tiki — New Zealand

Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

The view from the top of Sharp Top in the Peaks of Otter

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — More on the long view. One of the first things you should do when you find yourself lost in the wilderness is get to a higher vantage point and survey your surroundings. What’s a map but a simulated view from above? Get your hands something approaching the real thing by going to the top of a high hill or rocky outcrop, or by carefully climbing a tree. From there you can spot paths or roads to lead you home, water to slake your thirst, and maybe even some game for food. Does this sound interesting? It’s actually included in this week’s homily (click here to watch and listen). Looking for a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 10/8/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 5:1-7, Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20, Phil 4:6-9, Mt 21:33-43

Matthew 21:33-43  World English Bible

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:

“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. 34  When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. 35  The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36  Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. 37  But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38  But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39  So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. 40  When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

41 They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected

was made the head of the corner.

This was from the Lord.

It is marvelous in our eyes’?*

43  “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. 44  He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”

Survival schools teach the importance of a good vantage point.  When lost in the woods, always seek higher ground or climb a tree if you can.  From there you may scan the horizon for paths and roads to follow home, spot water sources, and see game animals.  Modern hunters use tree stands in the same way that ancient hunters sat or stood in trees with spears and bows. Soldiers also seek the high ground to see enemies approaching from miles away.  A city on a hill is more easily defended.  The high ground is always an advantage.  Having an advantage and having a good vantage point are so tightly related that they have the same root word.  

In the Garden of Eden God placed the tree of knowledge and the tree of life.  Every tree is in some way a tree of knowledge because from its branches we gain information about our surroundings.  Every tree is a tree of life because climbing its branches yields nourishment, through spotting prey and picking fruit, and safety, by providing a superior perspective.

Some details escape us because we live in a world in which our food comes from a market and our defense is provided by police and armies.  But for ancient peoples, all of this would have been glaring.  Fruit on the ground is unhealthy to eat and could be a trap laid by enemies lurking above.  A clever enemy attacks during the harvest when defenses are down and crops are gathered, ripe for the taking.  The wise climb up into the branches of the tree or to the top of the tower, to spot the best fruit, the choicest game, and ensure safety.  All of this would have stood out to the people of the past as starkly as a plume of smoke spotted from a high hill.  Adam, Eve, and the bad tenants of the landowner’s vineyard are of the same type.  These characters are shortsighted, rapacious, taking what they want today at the expense of the longer view.  All are given a garden which they fail to tend as they have been instructed by the landowner.  Lost in the woods, they’d be dead in no time. 

Isaiah and Jesus didn’t put the tower into their stories as a mere embellishment or a nice touch of color.  A man-made garden like a vineyard calls for a man-made tree.  So, in the center of the garden, the landowner builds a tower.  The vineyard is a garden which, like Eden, is made by a loving father for the benefit of those capable of appreciating its perfection.  The servants hired to tend the vineyard never bother to ascend the tower and see the majesty of the work the landowner has built for them to tend.  Adam and Eve never climbed the tree of knowledge.  They stood on the ground and seized the fruit.  Had they first climbed up to survey Eden, they would have gained the vision and patience to wait for God’s permission to eat the fruit and there would’ve been no fall. 

Friends, let us endeavor to be as wise as the ancient Semitic people whose oral stories are recorded in the book of Genesis.  Let us endeavor to spot the details of the story that the people of Jesus’ time would’ve noticed right away.  Greed, covetousness, laziness, violence, these are the low-hanging fruits of sin and death.  Attempting to see the world from God’s higher vantage point is the way to eternal life.      

Switch on, Transform, Recharge: Mettle Maker #375 and Holy Communion for 10/1/23

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Mettle Maker #375

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Fitness is transformation. It’s an adaptation to a particular set of environmental conditions. When constructing a training program, make sure that it is as similar to the performance requirements of the target environment as possible. Fitness is essentially a deliberate transformation, undertaken by carefully replacing the cells of the body that don’t fit the desired paradigm with ones that do. When designing your program, ask yourself how each component mirrors the target environment and, in turn, the transformational goal. Don’t know how to do that? Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts - Can you hit the switch? How you train is how you fight. If you don’t practice hitting the switch, it’s distinctly possible that won’t be able to do so when your life, or a loved one’s life, is in danger. What’s “hitting the switch?” It’s letting go — fighting as hard as you can — unleashing full aggression. If you’ve done everything you can to prevent, avoid, de-escalate and escape and, despite your best efforts, you must fight, you better know where your switch is and how to hit it. Practice it! If you' don’t know how to do that, join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Take a little one-night trip. Last week I went on a one-night, mid-week camping trip to do do some thinking in the wake of some troubling events (watch the video on the left for details if you’re interested). Do this sometime. So many people make a huge production about a camping trip. Don’t be like that — just take a day off and hit the road. Maybe you’ll forget something, or get rained on, or have to deal with something unexpected or unpleasant. There’s a word for that. It’s called an adventure! Get outta the city and recharge your batteries. You’ll be glad you did. If you don’t feel competent to do that, and you’re looking for a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 10/1/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Ez 18:25-28, Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9, Phil 2:1-11, Mt 21:28-32

Matthew 21:28-32  World English Bible Catholic Edition

Jesus said to the chief priests and to the elders of the people, “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29  He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30  He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go. 31  Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. 32  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.”

Brothers and sisters, becoming a Christian is not an intellectual decision.  Nor is it an emotional feeling, a social or political preference, or an ethical inclination toward a sensible set of moral rules and laws.  Although one or more of those may manifest as a consequence of conversion, they are just phenomena.  They are like rain, thunder, and lightning.  They are associated with storms, but they are not the storm itself.  A storm is a radical change in the upper atmosphere, a fundamental alteration in which huge masses of air are thrust ten or more miles up into the stratosphere.  That is what Christianity is: a stratospheric transformation of mind, body, and spirit.

Perhaps the right conditions are beginning to manifest in a person’s life and true conversion is close.  The Holy Ghost is stirring and the storm is coming.  But he or she may see a good person or a young child die, or witnesses a wicked person living a long and materially prosperous life and, as Ezekiel points out, ideas like “It’s not fair!” may begin to creep in.  But if total transformation in Christ takes place, this person will focus not on material fairness in this world, but on the timeless and precious beauty and joy of participation in Christ consciousness now – and on the ultimate fairness of eternal life in the world to come.

St. Paul describes the transformation that Jesus wants for us as participation in the Spirit; as being of the same mind and in the same love as Jesus, fully united in one heart. Jesus says in today’s reading that we must change our minds.  He’s not looking for us to say the right words or reach the intellectual, moral, social, logical, or emotional conclusions that line up with his teachings.  All of that is praiseworthy.  We should be able to understand and explain the sensibility and practicality of Christian teachings.  But as worthy as all of that may be, it’s all just phenomena.  It is rain and wind – but not the storm that Jesus is looking for.

When Moses was about to bring down the law, the scripture says that “when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.” (Exodus 19:16).  Although worthy of the awe it inspired, the mighty storm that accompanied the giving of the law is nothing compared to the power and majesty that lifts us up into the heavens and, through unification with Christ, transforms us in body, mind, and spirit.

No More Sour Grapes! Mettle Maker #374 and Holy Communion for 9/24/23

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Mettle Maker #374

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — More on light dumbbells: We’ve touched on light dumbbells before. They really are effective for keeping shoulders healthy and strong. Watch the video on the left, give them a try, and let us know what you think in the comments. You might be glad you did. Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts - Practice your Square Choke like you mean it. The video on the right only has 47 views, probably because it’s not exotic or sparkly, but workmanlike. If you’re going have a tight choke that you can apply with full force and aggression, you have to practice it. Don’t imagine that if you have to defend yourself you’ll somehow magically develop super strength and endurance. You actually have to train your techniques. Watch the video on the right and do the work. Want to learn more practical self-defense material? Join the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Vitis Palmata — the catbird grape

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Say hello to Vitis palmata, the catbird grape. If you’re looking for a trailside nibble this time of year, catbird grape is a fairly common find in the southeastern and south-central U.S. The fruit is often insipid (the technical term for low in flavor and sweetness) but definitely edible. Look closely and you’ll notice that the tendrils are forked. For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 9/24/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 55:6-9, Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18, Phil 1:20c-24, 27a, Mt 20:1-16a

Matthew 20:1-16a  World English Bible Catholic Edition

Jesus said,  “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2  When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius† a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3  He went out about the third hour,‡ and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4  He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. 5  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,§ and did likewise. 6  About the eleventh hour† he went out and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

7  “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’

“He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’

8  “When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ 9  “When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10  When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. 11  When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, 12  saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

13  “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? 14  Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. 15  Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ 16  So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Friends, there is very little more toxic than a work-and-reward mentality with regard to the spiritual life.  Christ, in today’s parable, shows us what happens when we fail to get beyond this cumbersome outlook.

We’ve all had the experience of working alongside someone who has this very simplistic, legalistic mindset.  This is the coworker who, when someone gets a promotion at work, says “I’ve been working here longer.  Why didn’t I get the position?”  This is the teenager who says to his mother, “You let my sister stay out until 11 pm.  Why do I have to be home by 9 pm?”  Every experienced parent, supervisor, pastor, or leader of any kind recognizes this “it’s not fair” outlook as a very sinister poison.

To nip this in the bud, leaders must immediately step in and teach those for whom they are responsible that the thought “it’s not fair” should be a call to introspection and faith rather than a call to bitterness.  That’s what Jesus is doing in today’s gospel reading.  When we start to think “it’s not fair” we should consider that perhaps the quality of our work isn’t as good as we think it is.  Maybe we need to do better.  Or perhaps we just need to be more patient.  There could be something amazing coming our way very soon – something that’s even better than the thing we’re being envious about.  But, most importantly, we must be mindful that “it’s not fair,” if left unchecked, becomes the mark of Cain.  When God accepted Abel’s sacrifice over his, Cain allowed his “it’s not fair” attitude to become a motive for murdering his brother.  This way of thinking literally points down to hell.

To begin heading upward, we must first see that although we sometimes use the term “the work of the spirit,” we should be taking up not a tedious list of chores but a labor of love.  This is the pivot point around which the Christian life turns.  Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39).   And Saint Paul said, “If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Cor 13:3). 

If we fill up the work of the spirit with love, it becomes a labor of love at which we can work tirelessly.  Jealousy and resentment fall away.  There is only joy for our brothers and sisters who are successful in both the material life and the spiritual life.  We are happy for them at school, at work, in sports, and so on – and when they believe in the Gospel, we are filled with joy at the thought that they might join us in the world to come.

The Christian life is not a call to mere obedience to laws.  It is a call to transformation.  We are not destined to be laborers in a vineyard, but rather offshoots of the true vine (John 15:1-17).  Say goodbye to the “sour grapes” way of life!

---

 † 20:2 A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labor.

‡ 20:3 Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 a.m.

§ 20:5 noon and 3:00 p.m.

† 20:6 5:00 p.m.

Mettle Maker #373 and Holy Communion for 9/17/23

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special events for mettlecraft month in november

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Mettle Maker #373

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Which is best: Pull-up, Chin-up, or Commando Pull-up? They’re shown in order left to right in in the picture on the left. It’s from The Elements of Gymnastics for Boys, and of Calisthenics for Young Ladies by Gustavus Hamilton (1838). None is any better than the others — they’re just different, and they compliment each other. Pull-ups accentuate the shoulders and back, Chin-ups accentuate the biceps, and Commando Pull-ups accentuate core stability. Working all three ensures all-around pulling power and helps prevent overuse injury you might get from doing only one of the three types exclusively. Instead of doing three sets of a single type, try doing one set of each. You might be glad you did. Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

Martial Arts - How you train is how you fight. Don’t imagine that if you have to defend yourself you’ll somehow magically use all of the violent defensive attacks — head butt, shoulder check, foot stomp, etc. — that you never practice in sparring because the injury risk is too high. You actually have to train these techniques vs. your heavy bag! Watch the video on the right. There’s also a new video short regarding shoulder check. Get there. Want to learn more practical self-defense material? Join the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Here’s a way to spend more time outside — build yourself a log cabin like Fr. Mitch is doing in his back yard!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — What’s the big deal about spending time outside? Being outside isn’t just relaxing. It reduces stress, cortisol levels, muscle tension and heart rates – all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease – and can increase focus and attention (Avitt 2021). Participants in one study reported a 64% increase in life satisfaction after spending just 20 minutes in a natural setting. No wonder -- spending time outside boosts Vitamin D levels, lowers blood pressure, improves sleep, relieves pain, and boosts immunity. It also reduces inflammation, which has been linked to numerous health problems, including cancer, autoimmune disorders, and depression (Singh 2019).

And the benefits aren’t just available to individuals. Cleaning up abandoned lots to plant trees and gardens, and introducing parks to high crime areas, improves relationships between neighbors, which results in reduced crime and depression rates. Just make sure you leave your cell phone in your pocket, and don’t wear earbuds. Unplugging from technology, especially social media, and giving your mind a much-needed break, gets your juices flowing. Really engaging with nature, paying full attention to the environment, recharges your batteries of attention, leading to increased creativity (Main 2012).

For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 9/17/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Sir 27:30—28:7, Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Rom 14:7-9, Mt 18:21-35

Matthew 18:21-35  World English Bible Catholic Edition

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23  Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24  When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.§ 25  But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26  The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27  The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

28  “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii,† and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

29  “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ 30  He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31  So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32  Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33  Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34  His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35  So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”

When children squabble and fight, every caregiver with a grain of common sense brings the children together to apologize and grant forgiveness.  Every supervisor at every company has at some point brought together quarrelling employees and done the very same thing.  Why is the importance of forgiveness so obvious, and yet, so often avoided?

We could try to argue that we grasp the wisdom of forgiveness because we’ve seen brutal, ever-escalating, revenge wars play themselves out between criminal gangs and crime syndicates.  Or because we’ve seen families wrecked by never-ending feuds and arguments, and teen lives wrecked by situations where a slight leads to a slap, a slap leads to a stab, and a stab leads to a drive-by shooting.  But that would be a faulty argument.  The sensibility of forgiveness is logical, but it isn’t conscious.  When we decide whether or not to forgive, we don’t think through the entire history of sociology, and go read Martin Buber’s great book on morality I and Thou before we take action.  Forgiveness is far more fundamental than the intellect.  It comes from a different place, a more instinctual place.

It’s so fundamental that primates, like chimps, bonobos, and gorillas, practice forgiveness.  So do goats, hyenas, dogs, wolves, coyotes, crows, and even rats.  Forgiveness and morality are so prevalent at every level of the animal kingdom that scientists credit evolution.  Acclaimed primatologist Franz De Wall, in his famous book The Bonobo and the Atheist, makes this claim.  But De Waal, and others like him, aren’t looking low enough, or deep enough, to see God’s hand in the reality upon which the forces of evolution are at play.

Forgiveness is wired into our very cells.  Expert Everett L. Worthington, Jr. of Virginia Commonwealth University has devoted his entire life to the scientific study of forgiveness.  Worthington’s research shows that lack of forgiveness for long periods of time leads to elevated blood pressure, heart rate, stress hormone production, and so on.  And if those elevations go unchecked, Worthington says, they lead to mental health problems, reliance on alcohol and drugs, elevated cardiovascular risk, digestive, immune, and respiratory problems, sexual and reproductive issues, even physical damage to the structures of the brain.¹

The need to forgive is in our biology, but it didn’t evolve.  Saying that forgiveness evolved is like saying that gravity evolved, or magnetism evolved.  The laws of physics, and the laws of morality, have been built into the structure of the universe like the bricks in the foundation of a home.  Forgiveness is found in the cellular structure of living things because it’s woven into the very fabric of reality by our Heavenly Father.

But because this world is fallen, God’s desire that we forgive – which cries out to us from the very heart of his creation! -- is imperfectly heeded by his creatures.  Despite the fact that God has embedded the healing power of forgiveness into his universe we too often flee from it.  Forgiveness brings peace to survivors of attack, peace to nations, neighborhoods, and broken families.  Forgiveness heals hearts, repairs friendships, prevents the escalation of violence, and restores harmony between nations, saves lives. 

Let us obey the natural law of forgiveness built into God’s creation, and obey the words of our Savior.  Let us forgive those who trespass against us not seven times but seventy-seven times.

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 ¹  https://www.templeton.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Forgiveness_final.pdf

Fresh Persepctives: Mettle Maker #372 and Holy Communion for 9/10/23

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Two special events this fall!

Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout. Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details or get TICKETS here. Or sign up to walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here.

Mettle Maker #372

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — How about a little change of perspective. Take a look at the first page of Issue No. 1, Volume XX (1908) of “Physical Culture,” the most popular health and fitness magazine of the old-school era, which ran continuously from 1899 to 1955 (left). How does this viewpoint (which has a lot in common with the Heritage Fitness way of thinking) differ from what you see online, on YouTube, Instagram, and social media? Yeah. Lots! Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!

A shortcut to the cemetery.

Martial Arts - Plains knife is where it’s at. The first martial art I studied was Hwa Rang do by way of Michael D. Echanis’ book Knife Fighting, Knife Throwing for Combat. I bought the book in high school and worked through the mental and throwing exercises. The book is 2% mental drills, 10% solo throwing drills, and 88% one-step drills (one student plays the attacker by making a semi-sincere attack, and the other student executes a particular programmed response).

There are dozens of one-steps in this book that, by consistent practice and memorization, are supposed to be made habitual across time. Eventually I took up Taekwondo and forgot about the book until years later when I started training in knife stuff. I remembered the book fondly, probably because it had been my first real foray into the world of martial arts. So I bought The Complete Michael D. Echanis Collection: Special Tactics for Knife and Stick Combat , which includes the original book and two others, and a friend of mine and I began working through the drills.

Nothing in it worked against sincere attacks. And so much of it involves circuitous, labyrinthine responses to direct attacks, that it reads like a shortcut down Cemetery Road. Looking anew at the mental drills, I found them very dark, scary, and strange, and not in harmony with with the eight universal spiritual disciplines.

If you want to learn how to use a knife for self-defesnse in a practical, workmanlike manner — without idolizing the weapon! — you need to study Heritage Self-Defense, which incorporates Mark Hatmaker’s Plains Knife material. Join the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Here’s a way to spend more time outside — build yourself a log cabin like Fr. Mitch is doing in his back yard!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — What’s the big deal about spending time outside? Being outside isn’t just relaxing. It reduces stress, cortisol levels, muscle tension and heart rates – all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease – and can increase focus and attention (Avitt 2021). Participants in one study reported a 64% increase in life satisfaction after spending just 20 minutes in a natural setting. No wonder -- spending time outside boosts Vitamin D levels, lowers blood pressure, improves sleep, relieves pain, and boosts immunity. It also reduces inflammation, which has been linked to numerous health problems, including cancer, autoimmune disorders, and depression (Singh 2019).

And the benefits aren’t just available to individuals. Cleaning up abandoned lots to plant trees and gardens, and introducing parks to high crime areas, improves relationships between neighbors, which results in reduced crime and depression rates. Just make sure you leave your cell phone in your pocket, and don’t wear earbuds. Unplugging from technology, especially social media, and giving your mind a much-needed break, gets your juices flowing. Really engaging with nature, paying full attention to the environment, recharges your batteries of attention, leading to increased creativity (Main 2012).

For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 9/10/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Ez 33:7-9, Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9, Rom 13:8-10, Mt 18:15-20

Matthew 18:15-20 World English Bible Catholic Edition

Jesus said,

“If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16  But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.* 17  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 18  Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 19  Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”

The modern way of seeing is the materialist-rationalist view.  Only those things which can be measured, quantified, and studied are real.  All of modernity has been and continues to be a long, complex, and lurid celebration of the sin of idolatry.  Material realities are elevated to highest standing, and the things that are sacred – God, love, beauty, truth, justice -- are deemed fluid, immaterial, unimportant, or dangerous.  This is why, during the height of the COVID pandemic panic, science was worshipped as ultimate truth while our churches were deemed “non-essential services” and ordered closed, despite having been hospitals serving the physically, spiritually, and mentally ill.

The faulty and idolatrous modern way of seeing was perhaps first succinctly described by Plato in his allegory of the cave in the 4th century BC.  Plato describes people who, for their entire lives, have been chained in a cave facing a wall.  All they can see are the shadows that are cast against the wall as other individuals go about their daily activities.  As far as the people chained in the cave are aware, the shadows are real.  Not knowing any better, their “reality” is a world of shadow puppets.  Only when they are unchained can they see the actual forms, the real truths that cast the shadows.

The early fathers of Christian church saw Plato’s cave as a wise pagan precursor to their view that ideas are more “real” than objects.  Christians know, for example, that all kings and leaders are destined to imperfection because they are shadows of the Heavenly King.  Saul, David, Solomon, and Pharoah are all different people, but they are all the same in the sense that they are pale shadows of our King in Heaven.  Heaven contains the realm of ideas, and it casts long shadows into our daily lives.

To the ancient mind – and this is very, very hard for modern people to step into – physical examples are less real than the ideas they exemplify.  We need to get into this mindset in order to fully understand today’s Gospel reading: the idea is more real than the material.  This is because the material world itself is based on an idea – an idea in the mind of God! – which he spoke into existence.

The only true bridge between the realm of ideas – Heaven – and the realm of the material is Jesus Christ.  He is the Word made Flesh – the ideal become real.  He is the perfect King alive.  And this is why, in today’s reading, Jesus says that they only way to properly adjudicate a dispute is to gather together in his name, which is to say, in a manner that places Jesus Christ in the center of our assembly.  Only if we do that can we have any hope of permitting on earth what is permitted in heaven, and forbidding on earth what is forbidden in heaven. 

Every conflict has its details and particularities.  In a sense that they are all different.  But it’s truer still to see, as the ancients did, that all disagreements are the same insofar as they  cannot be properly solved unless we invite Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, to be our mediator.

*18:16 Deuteronomy 19:15

Feet, Fighting, Feodor, and Faith: Mettle Maker #371 and Holy Communion for 9/3/23

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Two special events this fall!

Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout. Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details or get TICKETS here. Or sign up to walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here.

Mettle Maker #371

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Foot health is key. No feet, no fitness. If you’ve started walking to prep for the Marathon Mettlecraft Challenge and your feet are sore, here are some tips for easing the soreness and staying on track.

• Ease into it. You might have jumped into this too aggressively. See the plan here — you need a staggered progression.

• Take a break. Give your feet a rest for a week or so and try the tips below, then ease back in. If your foot pain is severe, see your doctor!

• Relive foot pain by rolling your feet on a frozen water bottle. Do this three times a day for up to 20 minutes (with your socks on to prevent frost burn)

• Stretch your Achilles tendon. A tight Achilles transfers tension to the foot. Put your hands on a wall or sturdy object and step into a front lunge while keeping your rear heel on the floor. Hold for 20 seconds, stretching only until you feel that the tendon exists — if it hurts, you’re overstretching.

• Stretch your Plantar fascia. Get on your hands and knees with your toes engaged. Slowly sit back onto your heels to stretch the soles of your feet. Hold three times for 30 seconds. Do this three times per day. Stretch only until you feel that the tendon exists — if it hurts, you’re overstretching.

• Roll your calves with a broomstick or therapy roller. Numerous tendons run from the lower leg, through and around the ankle, and into the foot. Rub them down, limber them up, and you may get some relief.

• Get a foot massage. You’ll be surprised how much relief you’ll get if you can talk your significant other to give you one. If you have to, roll your foot on a tennis ball. I’m lucky. My wife has chronic foot pain so she bought a fancy electric massage machine that I can use whenever I like without having to barter for it!

Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Martial Arts - American Rough ‘n’ Tumble is where it’s at. Heritage Self-Defense is American Rough 'n' Tumble -- a self-defense oriented martial art that originated in the Southern Virginia backcountry during the Colonial Era. It incorporates boxing, wrestling, kicking, indigenous fighting methods, and weapons (walking stick, knife, tomahawk, etc.), as well as old-school physical culture and spiritual development in the Western tradition. Watch the video on the left for a little inspiration! Want to learn Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts? Join as the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

~Feodor Protar

(Letter to his niece, 1923)

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Be inspired by the life and times of Feodor Protar, “The Saint of Beaver Island.” Feodor Protar was an actor, theater producer, and newspaper editor. But, despite his success, he longed for a simpler and more spiritual life. So in 1893 he sold his newspaper and bought a cabin on Beaver Island, where he moved permanently. He soon realized there was no doctor on the remote island. So he began to study first aid and medicine and slowly began to fill the gap. He prepared home remedies and ordered medications in bulk (prescriptions weren’t required until 1915) which he distributed, along with his care and advice, free of charge. Michigan state medical regulators were aware of his activities but, understanding that there was insufficient population and infrastructure to support a full-time doctor, ignored his lack of certification. Protar lived a simple life, living off the land and helping his neighbors, for over 30 years until his death in 1925. If Protar can do what he did, imagine what you can do! For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 9/3/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Jer 20:7-9, Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9, Rom 12:1-2, Mt 16:21-27

Matthew 16:21-27  World English Bible Catholic Edition

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”

23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. 28  Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Today we read, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” or in other popular translations, “you are thinking not as God does, but as humans do.” (Mt 16:23).  How can we be expected to think the way that the Creator of the Universe does?  Is this even possible for us?

We might instinctively feel as though Jesus’ expectations, voiced first to Peter and then extended to all of his disciples in the next sentence, are unfairly high.  But there is one very important fact to consider: God became man and walked among us, showing us the way to walk in the world.  Jesus rose from the dead and promised us a share in his Resurrection in the world to come.  We know the reality of the expectations and the reward.

But at the point when Jesus said the words we read today, Peter and he disciples had only promises, not proof.  Practical, common-sense people like them – people like many of us! – are solution-oriented.  We tend to think positively and to assume that every bad situation can be fixed, and every known obstacle can be avoided.  Peter thinks surely there is a way to prevent Jesus from having to suffer and die!  We tend to be like Peter.  If we know there’s a traffic jam, we can choose another route.  If we know a hurricane is coming, we can board up the windows and head to safer ground. 

But common-sense thinking like this, when it comes to morality, is just as much a stumbling block to us as it was to Peter.  In this life we face many practical choices large and small.  Will we compromise our beliefs or hold fast?  Will we say grace at the restaurant or stay silent to fit in?  Hide the mechanical problems with our car so that we can sell it to some sucker for a better price?  Ignore the Commandments when they’re inconvenient or costly?  Will we justify shopping on Sunday by saying it provides income for the poor, disrespect our parents because they deserve it for being annoying, or steal from a rich man because he has plenty? 

Jesus did what he did and said what he said, come what may.  We must do likewise.  The Greek word for “stumbling block” is skandalos, the bait stick that triggers an animal trap.  Let us not be snared.  The path of expediency runs along the edge of a lake of fire and, as the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Rocks and Stones: Mettle Maker #370 and Holy Communion for 8/27/23

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Two special events this fall!

Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout. Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details or get TICKETS here. Or sign up to walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here.

Mettle Maker #370

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — What is “stone strength?” Stone strength is the kind of strength that allows you to use your spine — less accurately, your “core” — in the whatever manner is required to carry out the desired activity. For example: a basketball player needs stone strength in order to uncoil and execute a jump shot or dunk a basketball. A wrestler needs stone strength to bridge and reverse when saddled. How do you build stone strength? Try one or more of these methods:

1. Add a carry to the end of every training session. Pick one at random: Bear Hug Carry, Suitcase Carry, Farmer Walk, Overhead Carry, Waiter Walk, etc. The key is almost daily work with high variety working at 70% - 80% intensity — that is, when you finish your set, your heart rate should be no more than 80% your theoretical max bpm (220 - age).

2. Rucking. Put on a weighted backpack and go for a walk a couple of times per week. Start off light and allow time for strength to accrue. This is lots harder than you think it is.

3. Dragon Flags. Start with bent legs and work your way up.

4. Bear Walks. This simple calisthenic builds amazing stability. Do 50 - 100 yards of Bear Walks a few times per week working at 70% - 80% intensity.

5. Add weight to the desired activity. Basketball players, put on a weighted vest while practicing your jump shots. Wrestlers, put on a weighted vest while practicing wrestling moves.

Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Martial Arts - For blog followers and friends of HSD only: the Raven mettle drill. This video is unlisted on YouTube — it will be included in the HSD training course when it releases — consider it our gift to you! Want to learn Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts? Join as the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

No, we’re not talking about this. We’re talking about the actual stone known as flint. Big difference.

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Can you find and identify flint stone? If you need to strike a spark off your knife, you’ll need to find some flint. Search for flint along the edges of streams and beaches. It’s mainly found in clumps inside chalky deposits, in limestone breaks and slides, and inside sedimentary rocks. It’s usually dark grey or brownish in color and has a semi-gloss, waxy appearance.

View fullsize

This is an actual picture of flint courtesy of Wikipedia.

The problem is, flint is far more rare than you might think. In a pinch you can try striking sparks with a chunk of quartz, which shares some characteristics with flint. Want to learn more? For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 8/27/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 22:19-23, Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8, Rom 11:33-36, Mt 16:13-20

Matthew 16:13-20  World English Bible Catholic Edition

Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14 They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18  I also tell you that you are Peter,† and on this rock ‡ I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades§ will not prevail against it. 19  I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20 Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.

 In today’s Gospel reading, God puts a frail and faulty mortal named Peter, a simple fisherman from Bethsaida (John 1:44), in charge of his precious church.  Thank God he was a successful leader.  If he hadn’t been, the church would’ve been snuffed out. The question arises, “Is it truly a miracle that a deeply imperfect man like Peter was successful?” 

As a martial arts coach, corporate manager, mentor, and priest, I have three decades of experience raising people up from inexperience to management, from awkward and fearful to coordinated and courageous, and from doubtful to faithful.  This process is always and everywhere the same. 

In 1990 I accepted my first teaching position as an inner city youth martial arts instructor.  I quickly learned that dedication and sincere engagement were the key.  Kids and parents ask you questions.  You have to listen intently and answer sincerely and truthfully.  Every appropriate answer requires you to think, to work, to do research, and to properly order your thoughts.  Good teachers learn at the same rate as his students. Out of proper dialogue between and among students and teacher, truth and excellence emerge. 

When I got my first management job, I discovered that the same transformative power manifests itself in the business world when there is sincere dialogue between and among management and staff.  No doubt this is what Peter discovered.  He found that if he fostered a healthy dialogue – if he really listened, and answered their questions with patience and careful attention, everyone improved.  He got stronger and more effective and so did they.  But the question is, did Peter succeed via common sense management and good old-fashioned patience and hard work?  Or did God intervene to make sure Peter could not fail?

In John 1 we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  In the Greek, the term for “the Word” is Logos.  Logos is the root of the Greek diálogos and the English word dialogue.  When we have honest and patient dialogues – when we speak and listen with sincerity – the truth emerges.  Problems are solved, difficulties are overcome, and everyone gets stronger and smarter.  This is extremely profound.

If the universe was meaningless – if there was no God, no Son or Word, and no Holy Ghost – there would be no intelligibility at all.  All that would emerge from conversations would be more chaos.  There would only be more fighting, more failure, and more fractionation.  But that’s not how it is at all.  Because God’s order sustains all of creation, the truth is discoverable and goodness is emergent from interactions undertaken in the true spirit of Logos. 

So yes, brothers and sisters, it is a profound miracle, and proof of the existence of God’s Logos, that a poor Jewish fisherman was able to be the rock of the church.  And it is also a miracle when each of us allows ourselves to be the rocks of our families, our businesses, our communities, and our nations.  Truly, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3).  All good things are made and through our cooperation with the Word, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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 † 16:18 Peter’s name, Petros in Greek, is the word for a specific rock or stone.

 ‡ 16:18 Greek, petra, a rock mass or bedrock.

 § 16:18 or, Hell

Relentless: Mettle Maker #369 and Holy Communion for 8/20/23

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Two special events this fall!

Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout. Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details or get TICKETS here. Or sign up to walk the Richmond Marathon with us on November 10th. SIGN UP here.

Mettle Maker #369

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

When using light dumbbells, keep shoulders down and back. Pretend you’re squeezing a lemon between your shoulder blades.

Fitness — Shoulders down and back. When? Just about all the time! Keeping your shoulders down and back is a precious vein that runs through the goldmine of old-school fitness and physical culture. Here are some of the benefits:

1. Alleviates a host of back and shoulder pain issues associated with bad posture

2. Protects the rotator cuff and increases output when performing every pushing and pulling exercise, especially the Big 3: Pull-ups, Push-ups, and Dips.

3. Improves efficiency during pedestrianism — a.k.a. “walking” — which comes in handy when you’re planning to walk a marathon.

4. Amps the punishment on many locks (if you’re into martial arts)

5. Makes you more attractive to the opposite sex by pushing out your chest (read this for details)

Don’t believe me? Test it! Go to your bar and pay close attention to your body as you execute a strict Chin-up as you normally would. How high did you get? How did your shoulders feel? What muscles were activated? Now do another one. But this time, pull your shoulders down and back. Don’t allow the bones of your upper arm ride up in the capsule. If you don’t feel better and pull higher, I’ll eat my pretty floral bonnet. Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Martial Arts - Heavy bag kick combos. Get in front of your heavy bag and execute 10 3-count combos with each of the 10 kicks we regularly use in Heritage Self-Defense (punch-punch-kick, kick-punch-punch, elbow-knee-knee, etc..). If takes practice to turn a foot/leg into a sword! Want to learn Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts? Join as the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Elderberry flowers — a Virginia native!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Native plants are where it’s at. When you start to learn about wild edibles the first thing you discover is that half of the plants you’re trying to identify in wild places are non-native. Plants that naturally occur in a given area are called “native plants.” They share symbiotic relationships with local wildlife and support sustainable habitats. Decorative plants and imports from other parts of the world not only fail to support wildlife as well as native plants but often escape into the wild, choke out native species, and become invasive exotics that destroy entire ecosystems.

There are tons of resources for folks who want to garden and decorate with native species. Check out the U.S. Forest Service’s native plant materials resource page. If you live in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, or Midwest., the National Wildlife Federation will ship native plant sets right to your front door! For those here in my native Virginia, check out the Virginia Native Plant Society’s list of local nurseries that sell native plant species. Want to learn more? For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 8/20/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 56:1, 6-7, Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8, Rom 11:13-15, 29-32, Mt 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21-28  World English Bible Catholic Edition

Jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”

23 But he answered her not a word.

His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.”

24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

26 But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27 But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Imagine you are attending a child’s football practice.  Some distance away there is a kid watching who’s been following the team around for days.  And the players say, “Coach, get rid of that kid will you?  He’s driving us nuts.”  But the coach wants to see if the kid has what it takes be a player.  So the coach says to the kid, “I’m not your coach kid.  I’m here to coach these players and these players only.  You got that?”

Now, some youngsters would give up.  But not this one.  He decides to show the coach what he’s made of.  He starts following the coach’s instructions and copying the team drills.  He starts to really sweat and work.  The coach notices.  He comes over and he says, “Look kid, my players have earned their jerseys.  I don’t disrespect the team by giving a jersey to every loser punk who follows the team around.”

Many kids would be insulted.  But not this one, he’s too humble for that. He knows he sort of stinks and that he needs a good coach to realize his potential.  And many would kids would get discouraged and give up.  But not him – he doesn’t need easy, he just needs possible.  So he tells the coach, “Water boys and mascots get jerseys though, don’t they?”  Not only is he humble, but he’s also plucky and smart.

Now the coach knows all he needs to know.  He says, “Okay kid, you win.  You’re on the team.”

This is the story in today’s gospel reading.  Traveling in the region of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus is pursued by a woman whose daughter has been possessed by a demon.  Jesus ignores her completely at first.  But she follows him so long, and so relentlessly, that eventually the disciples ask Jesus to send her away.  But Jesus doesn’t.  Instead he says to her, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

Although his mission is first to the Hebrews, Jesus has come to all the people of the world.  Is Jesus lying to her here?  No, Jesus doesn’t lie.  Jesus is like the football coach who told the kid, “I’m not your coach kid. I’m here to coach these players and these players only.” This is a challenge. 

And the Canaanite woman accepts the challenge. She worships Jesus saying, “Lord, help me.” She demonstrates to Jesus, just like the kid doing drills on the sidelines, that she’s not just hanging around.  She came to work. 

To this Jesus answers, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  And just like the kid, she isn’t insulted.  She is humble, smart, and plucky too.  She doesn’t need easy, she just needs possible.  She says, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

At last Jesus has heard all he needs to hear.  He says, “Woman, great is your faith!  Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter is healed.

Brothers and sisters, millions of people every day send up prayers that aren’t answered.  Why is God silent?  We can’t always answer that.  His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  But at least some of the time, it’s to encourage us to work harder.  God wants us to be like the Canaanite woman.  He wants us to be like the kid on the sidelines who desperately wants to learn from the coach and be on the team.  He wants us to demonstrate our faith, to be strong, and to be persistent in our prayers.

And he wants us to never, ever give up.

Plans, Programs, Persimmons: Mettle Maker #368 and Holy Communion for 8/13/23

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Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout (CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS)

Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #368

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness — Walking a marathon with us in November? Here’s your training plan. You don’t have to do it my way — as Mark Hatmaker likes to say, “I’m not your Dad!” — but you better do something if you’re going to prep for Mettlecraft Month 2023 when we walk a marathon. What’s Mettlecraft month? Well, every year, to develop our mettle, Heritage Self-Defense faces some sort of fitness challenge (check out some of our previous challenges here). Lately we’ve been opening the challenge up everybody in the wider Heritage Arts family an beyond!

Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Martial Arts - What kind of idiot would release a complete walking stick self-defense program, absolutely free, on YouTube? Mitch would! Back in 2015 I got a friend of mine to help me film my complete walking stick self-defense program, and I put it up for sale. After a year or so I realized I didn’t want to run a business. So I shut the doors and folded the walking stick program into Heritage Arts. I totally forgot about the videos! Well, I’ve begun releasing them. Videos 1, 2, and 3 are already out. 4, 5, 6, and 7 release next week. View the playlist here. Want to learn Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts? Join as the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Persimmons anyone? Out for a walk the other day and I came across a persimmon tree with huge fruit. Probably not a wild persimmon with fruit this big! Could it be a young peach, or a baby apple? No, that strange little tuft at the top of the fruit is a dead giveaway — it’s the dried flower from which the fruit emerges (the fruit is actually a berry by the way, a big fat berry). Persimmons are delicious and healthy to eat (lots of Vitamin C), but you should never — ever! — eat unripe persimmons. Unripe persimmons can cause intestinal blockages. Ripe persimmons are delicious fresh or dried. The leaves can be used for tea, and the seeds can be roasted and ground to make a coffee substitute. Want to learn more? For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 8/13/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a, Ps 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14, Rom 9:1-5, Mt 14:22-33

Matthew 14:22-33  World English Bible Catholic Edition

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 In the fourth watch of the night,† Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.* 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Cheer up! It is I! ‡ Don’t be afraid.”

28 Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”

29 He said, “Come!”

Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”

At the mountain of God, Elijah is exposed to the remarkable power of nature – thunder, lightning, wind, landslides, and fire.  But God is not in these things.  With his voice God spoke nature into existence.  And so it is God’s whisper that causes Elija to cover his face in humility, wonder, and awe, not the storm.

The pagan nature-worshippers who surrounded God’s people on every side at that time – the Greeks and the Romans, the Egyptians and the Babylonians, and all the rest –had their storm gods.  They had their Zeus, their Set, their Marduk and their Ba’al.  God’s creation is incredible, it’s beautiful, amazing, awe inspiring, worthy of love, care, and respect and all of that.  But it’s not worthy of worship.  Nature and it’s fury are not God.  But those pagans, if they had been in Elijah’s place, would’ve bowed down and worshipped the storm.  They would’ve been unable to hear God’s whisper over all the racket. 

But Elijah is fearless.  God tells him to leave the safety of the cave and go out into the storm.  Does Elijah cower in fear?  No.  Can you imagine?  What faith!  What courage!  And then, what does he hear?  What is his reward?  God’s faintest whisper.  And that’s enough for any person who loves God.

In Romans 9:1-5 St. Paul says that he would sacrifice himself and cut himself off from Christ if it meant that this people would hear God’s whisper, and come toward the voice of Christ.  He says, “look, you’ve got the law, the covenants, the worship, the prophets and the patriarchs, but you’re distracted by the flash and flare.  What you need to do is hear and follow the Word.”

Peter is practically in the same boat as the Israelites to whom St. Paul is speaking.  Peter wants to join Jesus on top the water – to stand above nature, to be above all of the old pagan ideas.  Peter wants to have the courage and faith of Elijah.  But the scripture says, “Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”  Jesus pulls him up.  Back in the boat, the storm passes.  Then, of course, Peter and the other apostles say, “You are truly the Son of God!”  Brothers and sisters, it sure is a lot easier to hear God’s truth when life isn’t stormy, isn’t it? 

That’s the boat we’re in today.  We’re surrounded by nature worshippers who bow down before the power of climate change.  We’re surrounded by those who are fearful of political earthquakes and are terrified by the fires of social unrest.  We’re hemmed in on every side by folks who aren’t even trying to listen for God’s awesome whisper.

If you’re fearful, that’s okay.  Pray to Jesus Christ.  He’ll extend his hand and keep you from drowning.  And above all, listen for Christ’s Word amidst the storm and take heart.   Through Christ, “Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:10-11)  Through Christ, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

---------------------------------------

† 14:25 The night was equally divided into four watches, so the fourth watch is approximately 3:00 a.m. to sunrise.

* 14:25 See Job 9:8

‡ 14:27 or, I AM!

Throw, Throw, Throw: Mettle Maker #367 and Holy Communion for 8/6/23

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Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout (CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS)

Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #367

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Various old dudes throwing rocks

Fitness — Rock throwing? Oh, you bet! Stone throwing has been a human universal since we lived in caves. Rock throwing competitions are mentioned by Homer and have been commonplace in Scotland and across Europe for two millennia — until the rock was replaced with a cannonball and became the shot put.

A regulation shot put weighs between 8 and 16 lbs.. and a competition stone in the Highland Games between 22 and 28 pounds. Based on the above exemplars, visual depictions in paintings and tapestries, and the rare book mention, a mean stone in the 20 – 30 lb. range emerges from the mist, which is what I advise using for throwing exercises. Tip: To limit rolling, use a strangely shaped rock, or substitute a slam ball.

There are three primary throwing methods.

Putting Throw. The one-handed throw seen in modern shot-put competition, with the stone resting in the open hand and tucked into the chin/shoulder area or, if the stone is too large, with the other hand pressing down on the top. You may run up to the line and throw or spin up Olympic-style. Your choice.

Heaving Throw. Face perpendicular to the throwing direction. Grasping the stone with both hands, hold the stone on the side of your body farthest from the target. Flex knees. Swing the stone in a 180-degree arc from aft to fore, straightening the legs as you heave it upward at a 45 degree angle, releasing it in the direction of the target. Great for building rotational power.

Overhead Throw. This is the throw often seen when a basketball or soccer player completes a throw-in or inbounds pass. Get the stone into overhead carry position. Flex arms, trot or step up to the line, and straighten them as you toss the stone forward.

3 sets of 10 throws for a total of 30 throws (15 each hand throwing one-handed), done a couple of times per week, is a great addition to any fitness program. There are many ways to build up to that many tosses with a 30-pounder. Start with a light stone and do all the reps, gradually ratcheting up the weight over time. Or just start with the 30 lb. stone, tossing it just a few times rather lazily at first, and gradually increase intensity and reps over time.

Looking for a free fitness coach? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Martial Arts - Your Grappling Dummy is your friend. Lately we’ve been training hard with the grappling dummy, assiduously working through Mark Hatmaker’s incredibly rich material on this topic. 50 tosses once or twice a week will fortify any martial arts training program. Check out our YouTube shorts, one of which is on the left, or avail yourself of Mark’s great 2-DVD set Silent Partner. Want to learn Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts? Join as the club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Wildwood Outdoor Skills — Throwing sticks for survival. If you’re in a survival situation you have to appreciate the simplicity and elegance of the throwing stick. It requires virtually zero skill to craft one — you might even be able to just pick one up off the ground. They are virtually unbreakable, and if you lose it you can find or fashion another easily. To be clear though, hunting small mammals with a throwing stick is even harder than it seems. Throwing sticks work best against flocks of birds and schools of fish (in shallow water of course). If the critters are on the move, direct a leading throw for the middle of the flock or school in the area they are about to be occupying, not where they are at the moment. When hunting stationary birds, aim at the area just above them, as the birds are likely to be spooked by your movement and/or the sound of the whooshing stick, and take flight. And by the way, you should also practice. For a comprehensive outdoor skills program, click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Transfiguration of the Lord, Sunday 8/6/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14, Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, 2 Pt 1:16-19, Mt 17:1-9

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14  World English Bible, Catholic Edition

9 “I watched until thrones were placed,

and one who was ancient of days sat.

His clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool.

His throne was fiery flames,

and its wheels burning fire.

10 A fiery stream issued and came out from before him.

Thousands of thousands ministered to him.

Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The judgment was set.

The books were opened.

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like a son of man came with the clouds, and he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 Dominion was given him, with glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.

Today’s reading from Daniel is abbreviated in order to simply and directly highlight an Old Testament prophecy that points to the Transfiguration we celebrate today.  But if we examine the whole of Daniel 7, we can get an even deeper understanding of what the Transfiguration is finally all about.

The verses just before today’s describe Daniel’s vision of four beasts emerging from the sea.  The first three bear some resemblance to familiar animals.  But the fourth creature, which is “awesome and powerful, and exceedingly strong,” defies imagination, and we’re given some bizarre details regarding its horns.

8 “I considered the horns, and behold, another horn came up among them, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great [boastful] things.

What on earth can this nightmarish image mean?  Ten is the perfect number, the basis of math and the number of the commandments. Ten is God’s law.  A terrifying, talking horn with eyes and mouth appears in the midst of the ten horns, drives out three, and makes ten become eight.  The eight-pointed star is the symbol of the Babylonian goddess Inanna.  The city of Babylon had eight gates.  In Revelation, the antichrist is the eighth king.  Eight is chaos. 

The sacred shofar, the Jewish horn, is blown on High Holy Days.  Shofar is Hebrew for “listen.”  The shofar proclaims to the people, “Listen to God!” and to God it proclaims, “God, we are listening!”  But the evil horn on the fourth beast from Daniel’s nightmare is the opposite.  It is one of the most disturbing symbols in the Bible. In Daniel 7:25 we read that the talking horn “will speak words against the Most High, and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law.’” Rather than proclaiming God’s truth, this horn speaks for itself.  It literally toots its own horn and proclaims its own truth, turning the law into chaos.    

God help us, but this nightmarish horn that proclaims its own truths is sounding everywhere right now.  Voices of chaos are booming – out of our televisions, on social media, on billboards, howling from the mouths of performers, politicians, and pundits, tooting and honking, undermining God truth.  They are loud today, but were even louder and deadlier in the days of Peter, James and John.  James would be the first martyred, followed by Peter.  And it’s in that context that Jesus takes theses three apostles to a high place and gives them a glimpse of his power and glory, to give them heart.  To carry them through the trials and tribulations he knew they would face.

The Transfiguration which we celebrate today – Jesus appearing with his face shining like the sun and his garments as white as the light – is a foretaste of the glory to come.  Do not be disheartened in the face of oppressors.  Do not be worn down and led astray by voices seeking to subvert the rituals and laws that are the foundation of our society and our religion. 

As Daniel’s vision predicts, and the Transifiguration foreshadows, God’s dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.  The voices of evil and dissention will be silenced. God will reign forever and ever.

Walk for Your Life! Mettle Maker #366 and Holy Communion for 7/30/23

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Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout (CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS)

Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #366

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

HERitage Arts is walking the richmond marathon!

November 11th 2023

click here to donate or walk with us

A Martial Arts, Fitness, and Outdoor Skills three-for-the-price-of-one this week: Get to walking! The data is in:

• Walking is the safest and most efficient way to lose weight, shed fat, and build endurance. Old-time boxers, like Bob Fitzsimmons, used walking as their roadwork instead of running!

• And, as Mark Hatmaker reported on his blog, the benefits of walking include:

• improved circulation

• increased life expectancy

• improved mood

• strengthen muscles

• weight loss or maintenance

• joint support

• increased bone density

• improved sleep

• decreased Alzheimer’s risk and decreased mental decline

• improved breathing

• increased stamina

• And, my research shows that, unlike other forms of exercise (running, biking, jumping rope, HIIT, etc.) walking is extremely low impact. In other words, it doesn’t interfere with athletic performance in other sports.

• Because it doesn’t result in sharp drops in blood sugar, it doesn’t trigger extreme hunger or binge eating the way other more intense forms of exercise can. That’s why bodybuilders have always been devoted walkers.

• A 150 lb. walker can burn 266 calories per hour without generating a voracious appetite. And avoiding irresistible hunger is key for folks looking to burn off fat and keep it off.

• If you want to be lean, go for a walk. You can literally walk your buns off and still have plenty of juice for lifting weights – or for yard work, your day job, a night on the down, or a weekend canoe trip.

• Despite being low-impact and really safe, there are two relatively common injuries associated with going on a long walk with zero prep: Plantar faciatis and blisters. Start with a mile or two a day and you’ll up to to 10 miles or more in no time.

Heritage Self-Defense will be walking the Richmond Marathon this year, raising funds for Sports Backers Youth Fitness programs. Click here to donate! And if you'd like to walk with us, register as part of our team! And, by the way, this will be our challenge for Mettlecraft Month this year, so remote students should start planning routes, tying up togas, and getting for the ready for 26.2 mile travail!

Want to learn more about martial arts, fitness, or outdoor skills? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 7/30/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: 1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12, Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130,  Rom 8:28-30, Mt 13:44-52

Matthew 13:44-52  World English Bible, Catholic Edition

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45  “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46  who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47  “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some fish of every kind, 48  which, when it was filled, fishermen drew up on the beach. They sat down and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49  So it will be in the end of the world.§ The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50  and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”

They answered him, “Yes, Lord.”

52 He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”

When I was kid, my father would let me borrow the car.  He didn’t ask much, only that when I returned it to the driveway, its interior be as neat as I found it, and that the gas tank be filled up.  Well, thank goodness he was an infinitely patient and forgiving man because, like a lot of teens, I didn’t follow the rules.  So he stopped letting me borrow his nice car.  I had to use the old station wagon that he used for his contracting business and for hauling junk to the dump.

I still didn’t learn my lesson, I’m sorry to say.  I drove it too fast and wrecked it.  At that point there was only one thing he could do: sell me a car.  My mother needed a new car, and he agreed to sell me her old 1970 Pinto for $200.  That was a lot of money in 1978, especially if you’re a 17-year-old bagging groceries.  Now, let me tell you, that car I took care of.  I drove more carefully, did the maintenance, and drove that thing for almost ten years.  I brought my first child home from the hospital in that rambling wreck!

Lesson learned. 

And that’s the lesson Jesus wants us to learn. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”  The man in this story doesn’t own the field.  He can’t possibly treat the treasure the way someone does who’s invested in it, who has taken ownership of its perfection, its power, and its perpetuation.  Jesus wants us to buy into his wisdom.

Jesus says, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man…who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”  Jesus wants to sell all we have to take ownership of his Kingdom.  What do we sell?  We sell our pride for humility in Christ.  We sell our greed and our envy for the spirit of sharing.  We sell our wrath for patience and our gluttony for food to feed the hungry.  We sell our lust for attention to shower on our spouses.  And we trade our sloth for the energy to work on behalf of our neighbors and our churches. 

  Jesus says, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.” Jewish scribes copied Torah scrolls and were extremely careful and accurate experts in the law and the prophets.  They were consulted for answers to serious legal and ethical questions.  And when a householder digs into his savings, when he pulls out some of his treasure, it is only for something of paramount importance.  If we’re smart, we don’t touch our treasure troves – our retirement plans, our IRAs, and our 401Ks – unless it’s absolutely essential.  If we squander it, we’ll have no way to take care ourselves in our old age.    

Those of us who quote the Bible, who discuss its laws and prophecies, are being told to treat what we are dealing with in the same way as the householder – as if our ultimate end, the salvation of ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and all souls on earth depends on it.

Because it does.

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§ 13:49 or, end of the age.

Nasturtium, Square Choke, and the Eyes of Argus: Mettle Maker #365 and Holy Communion for 7/23/23

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Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout (CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS)

Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #365

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Martin “Farmer” Burns

Fitness: Be Argus-eyed for the waste and drain of junk volume. In Greek myth, Argus Panoptes (“all-seeing Argus”) is the many-eyed giant who job it is to guard the priestess Io against the advances of Zeus. I spent months doing a deep dive on the Farmer Burns wrestling correspondence course, actually testing the methods laid out there. And one of the first things that jumped out at me was the amount of junk volume. Don’t get me wrong. There’s some great stuff in there! I was surprised how much I liked some of his self-resistance exercises, breathing exercises, and some of his dumbbell exercises. But the proportion of supportive work to actual wrestling is about 80/20, which should be reversed! If you want to be a good wrestler, wrestle. Don’t waste time on dozens of isometric and isotonic exercises, jumping rope, running, vibrating machines, “internal massage,” and so on. Look at your program. More isn’t always better. Get rid of junk volume, and jealously guard against it's re-entry. Looking for a fitness coach to help you design a training program or keep you on track with regard to your fitness goals? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Self-Defense: How tight is your Square Choke? Everybody knows the Rear Naked Choke, and to the untrained eye, the Square Choke is virtually the same. But it ain’t. Square Choke is a forearm attack, and it works like a draw knife rather than as a triangle. And what’s great about it is that it doesn’t matter much where you lay it on — under the chin, across the chin, under the nose, across the cheek, eye-line, or jaw. To practice your square choke power, set a 3-minute timer and latch onto your heavy bag with the proper Gable grip, attacking forearm palm down and as close to parallel to the ground as possible. Now lift your legs off the floor and hang. When you can hold on no longer, switch sides. Alternate until the timer beeps. Put in a few rounds a week this way, switching up chokes from time to time. Now, if you want to know the secret that increases your hang time and your submission power by about 25%, you’ll have to enroll in the Heritage Self-Defense distance learning program. Click here to get started!

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

Wildwood outdoor skills: Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), the delicious flower food. Every part of this little beauty are edible, except the roots. It contains a heaping helping of vitamin C, and more lutein than any other plant, more even that kale and turnip greens. And the flavor? it’s about as peppery and delicious as all get out! The best news is that it’s easily grown from seed, and it’s not picky about soil. It just needs plenty of moisture and sun. Sprinkle the seeds in a pot, planter, or bed in May and you’ll enjoy your plants all summer. Need more tips, inspiration and education regarding outdoor skills? Click here and sign up for the 100% free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 7/23/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Wis 12:13, 16-19, Ps 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16, Rom 8:26-27, Mt 13:24-43

Matthew 13:24-43 World English Bible, Catholic Edition

24 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25  but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds† also among the wheat, and went away. 26  But when the blade sprang up and produced grain, then the darnel weeds appeared also. 27  The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’

28  “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

29  “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

31 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field, 32  which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”

33 He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures‡ of meal, until it was all leavened.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

“I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”*

36 Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.”

37 He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38  the field is the world, the good seeds are the children of the Kingdom, and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. 39  The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40  As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. 41  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those who do iniquity, 42  and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Various translations use different words for “weed” in Matthew 13:25.  The King James says “tares” were sowed among the wheat.  Tare is an old-fashioned word for a weed.  The Douay Rheims uses “cockles” and the RSV just says “weeds.” But, interestingly, the Greek and Latin both use the word zizanium which is a weed that closely resembles wheat.  I believe the meaning here is that there are Christians, and there are look-alike Christians, and it’s hard to tell the difference.  But Jesus knows.  And when he returns to judge the quick and dead, he’s going to separate the two.  There’s going to be a reckoning. 

As I meditated on this scripture, I remembered a man I haven’t seen in many years.  When my father passed away in 2008, my mother and I were stumbling through the darkness of grief.  Thankfully, my father had prepaid for everything and made all of the arrangements.  The only major thing we had to do was arrange the funeral service itself.  The funeral director put me in touch with a total stranger named Reverend Harry Bowman.  Reverend Bowman was a whip thin man in his 60s who had officiated hundreds of funerals.  He met with us to prepare the eulogy and service, Mom first, then me.  When it was my turn, he gently asked me questions about my father, and got me talking.  I felt like I’d known Reverend Bowman my whole life.  I told him all about my father, about how he was a god-fearing man who had considered becoming a Presbyterian minister as a young man and who read the Bible to me from the time I was born until middle school. 

During the interview he asked me why we weren’t church-going.  I explained that some kind of financial scandal involving the minister and the board had disillusioned my mother and father.  They had left the church for good.  As for me, I said, I just grew up and stopped believing.  I’m ashamed to say that I asked him, “You don’t actually believe all that stuff, like Jesus rising from the grave, do you?”

 He smiled warmly.  And with calm confidence, he said, “Yes, yes indeed.  Without question.  And you should too.”  I confess,  I remember that he did a good job with the service, but I really don’t remember the rest of our conversation or even the details of the service.  It has all been swallowed up in the hazy clouds of grief and time.  But his witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ echo down the years.  And by the way, he also helped me bury my mother, eulogizing her when she passed in 2016.

In my story, the weeds that look like wheat are the ones whose betrayal of their church so disillusioned my parents – and who knows how many others! -- that they left and never went back.  Woe to those look-alike weeds brothers and sisters!  Jesus said, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.” 

And the good seed?  Well that’s Reverend Harry Bowman, who stood firm in his witness to the truth of the Resurrection.  Who patiently, calmly spoke the truth to a confused man like me.  Who has made a career out of guiding strangers through their darkest hours, steering them patiently toward Christ.     

---

† 13:25 darnel is a weed grass (probably bearded darnel or lolium temulentum) that looks very much like wheat until it is mature, when the difference becomes very apparent.

 ‡ 13:33 literally, three sata. Three sata is about 39 liters or a bit more than a bushel

 * 13:35 Psalm 78:2

Chigger Myths, Barking Kick, Old-Time Dumbbells, and More: Mettle Maker #364 and Holy Communion for 7/16/23

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Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #364

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness: Four Old-Time Light Dumbbell Exercises. Old-time dumbbells were light, weighting between 2 and 5 lbs (1 or 2 kilos), and were used in entirely different manner than they are today. Reps per set were comparatively high, from 20 up into the hundreds, and they were used in complex, compound movements rather than to isolate specific muscles.

Here’s a selection four from my forthcoming old-school fitness book — exercises I’ve incorporated into my training with great results. But first, some basic rules.

Old-School Dumbbell Rules

1. Start with light dumbbells, perhaps a pound or two, and work your way up to a max of 5 lbs. per hand.

2. Again — never use dumbbells heavier than 5 lbs. each for old-school exercises!

3. Swinging and Circling are hard on tendons, ligaments, and joints if you fail to maintain control through the movement or simply go too fast. Go slowly, and never sling yourself past your current range of motion.

4. Most of the old-timers recommended around 20 reps per given exercise. Start with a limited number of reps, perhaps 8 or 10, and work your way up somewhere between 20 and a max of 50 reps. Founding father Benjamin Franklin famously recommended 40 Deep Front Swings (Fig. 7). Listen to your body and behave accordingly.

Dumbbells used properly are of great benefit. But used improperly, they are wrecking balls.

• Chargers (Fig 6): Stand erect, holding the bells at the chest. Step out to the side as far as possible, at the same time punching the arms horizontally. Regain the first position and repeat the movement on the opposite side. Vary the movement by stepping to the front and rear.

• Deep Front Swing (Fig 7): Stand with the legs well spread, extend the arms vertically. Bend back as far as possible, then swing the bells down and as far between the legs as possible and up again.

• Squat Press (Fig 8): Bend the legs and keep the back straight, touch the bells to the floor, straighten up, curl, and extend the arms high above the head standing on tip toe.

• Twin Circles (Fig 9): Assume the position pictured. Then, scribing tilted circles with both hands in the same plane, swing both arms together until the right arm is back and the left arm is in front. Repeat to the other side. If you are doing this properly, half way through each rep you will be in a “T” position.

Looking for a fitness coach to help you design a training program or keep you on track with regard to your fitness goals? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Self-Defense: How is your Barking Kick? Last week we worked on your décollage. This week let’s work on your Barking Kick. This kick isn’t about power, it’s about closing distance, causing pain, and turning yourself into a striking buzz saw. Watch the video on the left, practice often, and keep your eye out for the next video short in the series. Looking for an affordable American Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts coach? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Wildwood outdoor skills: The Truth About Chiggers. If you’ve never had chiggers, you probably don’t understand what the fuss is about. If you’re one of those people, you should know that getting covered in chigger bites are the itchiest thing I’ve ever experienced. I’d rather have poison ivy on 75% of my body than chigger bites on one ankle. Trust me — you do NOT want chigger bites!

Chigger biting (from Wikipedia)

As a kid I was taught that chiggers burrow into your skin and take up residence. The way to stop the itch and get them, the old-timers said, was to paint the skin with nail polish to cut off the air supply and choke them out. That’s hogwash. By the time you start to itch, the chiggers have already chewed your flesh and dropped off. It’s the bite that itches. Prevention is the key with chiggers. If you’re going to be going off-trail, hiking in high grass, standing in the weeds by the lake in order to fish, etc. (chiggers love damp grass and weeds!), apply bug repellent containing DEET (studies show citrus oils neither kill nor repel chiggers). If you do not have bug repellent, coat your skin with a thick layer of mud or oil. There is a reason why the ancient Greeks oiled themselves frequently, and why even today so-called primitives still do: oil chokes parasites. If you don’t want to oil up, mud up, or use DEET, you better have access to a shower immediately after your outing. Just wash and scrub thoroughly and throw your clothes straight in the washer, and you should be fine.

Need more tips, inspiration and education regarding outdoor skills? Click here and sign up for the 100% free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 7/16/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Is 55:10-11, Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14, Rom 8:18-23, Mt 13:1-23

Matthew 13:1-23  World English Bible Catholic Edition

On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside. 2 Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach. 3 He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. 4  As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. 5  Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. 6  When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. 7  Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. 8  Others fell on good soil and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. 12  For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. 13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. 14  In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,

‘By hearing you will hear,

and will in no way understand;

Seeing you will see,

and will in no way perceive;

15  for this people’s heart has grown callous,

their ears are dull of hearing,

and they have closed their eyes;

or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their heart,

and would turn again,

and I would heal them.’*

16  “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. 17  For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.

18  “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. 19  When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. 20  What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately with joy receives it; 21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22  What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23  What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

In traditional Karate, the only acceptable color for a uniform is white.  White signifies a blank sheet of paper.  It says that everyone is prepared – students and instructors alike -- to watch and listen, to learn lessons, and to take notes.  In a similar vein, the Greek philosopher Socrates said that wonder is the beginning of wisdom.  He believed and taught that the truth emerged out of sincere dialogue -- asking genuine questions and giving honest answers. 

This is universal wisdom.  If we approach a situation, problem, person, or social encounter – literally anything – with a sense of wonder, curiosity, and receptivity, we will learn things.  We find this wisdom offered up by many wise teachers and philosophers across the globe.  But what we are seeing in today’s Gospel reading a much deeper exploration of this dense philosophical concept.

He explains that some, when they receive the truth, are not curious at all.  They have no wonder, no receptivity.  They shrug it off.  This is the seed the evil one snatches away.  Others are moved emotionally and are inspired for a time.  But they don’t ground what they’ve learned in their heart and in their actions.  As soon as things get difficult, because of peer pressure, persecution, or the temptations of riches and social status, they give up.

When asked why he teaches in parables, Jesus says, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.”  He’s saying, “I’m giving it you straight because you get it, but I’m not giving it to them.  They get parables.”  And then he adds, “For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.”  Here he expounds the universal wisdom that those who have wonder, curiosity, and receptivity will be drawn ever forward into greater and greater understanding.  But he adds a unique observation: those who don’t cultivate wonder, curiosity, and receptivity will stagnate.

Nothing stays the same.

A scientist who wants to stay relevant and keep innovating must stay up-to-date.  Many professions, like lawyers, doctors and accountants, are required to engage in continuing education in order to be licensed.  This wisdom is everywhere.  But Jesus’ singular observation is deeper still.  The same is true of spiritual knowledge.  If we rest on our laurels, and feel that we’ve made our successes, done our good deeds, and had all our great insights, we begin to fall into an “I have arrived” standpoint, or a “been there, done that” outlook regarding the work of the spirit.  What little wisdom we’ve stored up will depreciate, perhaps even all the way down to hell.

---

* 13:15 Isaiah 6:9-10

10 Rules, 2 Kicks, 4 knots, and 1 Yoke: Mettle Maker #363 and Holy Communion for 7/9/23

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Get your tickets now for the 1st Annual Heritage Arts Campout (CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS)

Event starts at 4 PM on Friday 10/13/23 and runs through noon on Sunday 10/15/23. Martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — for just $25/ticket. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Mettle Maker #363

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness: The Ten Rules of Old-School Calisthenics.

Calisthenics: “The science, art, or practice of healthful exercise of the body and limbs, to promote strength and gracefulness; light gymnastics.” (Webster ‘s Dictionary, 1913 edition)

Old-school calisthenics were like the physical therapy of their time -- the original cross-training used to build up health and support long-term performance in primary activities.  Toward that end, there are rules that should be observed with performing calisthenics the old-fashioned way.

Old-School Calisthenics Rules

1.     Go at a slow pace. 

2.     Avoid bouncing or ballistics.

3.     Maintain total control throughout every movement.

4.     Move through the full range of motion.

5.     Perform at least one deep breath on every rep.  Never hold your breath.

6.     Stay out of the redline.  A motor’s redline is the maximum safe rpm at which it can revolve without damaging components.  Your redline is 80% of your maximum safe heartrate. Find your max by subtracting your age from 220, then multiply that number by 80% to get your redline.  If you’re 30 years old, your max heartrate is 190 bpm (220-30).  Multiply 190 times .8 and your redline is 152 beats per minute (or 25 beats per 10 seconds on your watch).   Keep your heartrate under redline when doing calisthenics.

7.     Stay within failure tolerance. In engineering, the tolerance of a part or system is the performance range in which it continues to execute its defined function without breaking down.  Your “tolerance” is either 1 rep short of failure or when your form is less than perfect, whichever comes first.  If you’re doing Push-ups, for example, you should stop as soon as you feel your butt starting to sag, and/or when you think you might be able to get just one more rep.  Pushing to failure, doing sloppy reps, having to psych yourself up, feeling the need to yell or grunt, indicates you’re exceeding your failure tolerance.       

8.     Eliminate junk volume.  When 25 reps of an exercise becomes easy, move on to a more difficult exercise that works the relevant body part or parts. The old-timers never wasted their time doing beginner exercises once they moved past them, and you shouldn’t either.  Example: When a 60-second Front Plank is easy, begin doing Push-ups on knees.  When 25 of those get easy, begin doing regular Push-ups.    

9.     When you hit the ceiling, go slower.  When 25 reps of the most difficult exercise working that body part(s) becomes easy, decrease the speed at which you perform your 25 reps.  Keep the exercise challenging and fresh by going slower, never by increasing the rep count.

10.  Limit total volume.  No more than 25 reps of each exercise max per day, and no more than 250 total calisthenics reps per day (10 reps each of 25 different exercises, 25 reps of 10 difference exercises, 5 sets of 5 reps of 10 different exercises, etc.).

Observing these 10 simple rules will help ensure that your calisthenics are restorative rather than deteriorative – that they build you up rather than wearing you down. Looking for a fitness coach to help you design a training program or keep you on track with regard to your fitness goals? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Self-Defense: How are your skip and décollage kicks? You don’t have to be an acrobat or do be able to do extreme Taekwondo kicks to defend yourself— but it is advantageous to be able to increase your power, move offline, and/or cover additional distance quickly using techiques like skipping and décollage. Watch the video on the left, practice often, and keep your eye out for the next video short in the series. Looking for an affordable American Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts coach? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

Wildwood outdoor skills: How are your knots? If you don’t know the essential twelve, start with the first four basic ones and move on from there. See video on the right, and stay tuned for the next two videos in the series until you’ve masted the 12 knots in the Wildwood distance learning program.. Speaking of which, how would you like more inspiration and education regarding outdoor skills? Click here and sign up for the 100% free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 7/9/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Zec 9:9-10, Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14, Rom 8:9, 11-13, Mt 11:25-30

Matthew 10:26—33  World English Bible Catholic Edition

25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. 26  Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. 27  All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

28  “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“Come to me all who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest.”  Brothers and sisters, what kind of labor?  Not just any kind of labor.  In the Greek this is kopos, which is labor to exhaustion, serious toil.  And what kind of burden? Well, since Jesus says in the next sentence, “you will find rest for your souls” we can tell that he is talking about soul-crushing burdens -- physical and spiritual loads that are too much for one person to bear.

For a year back in 1989 supervised a work crew stacking bricks in a coal-fired brick plant.  These men pulled bricks off the kiln cars, still warm from fire. For eight hours a day, five days a week, they stooped, lifted, and stacked. The plant had no air conditioning and in the summer the kilns rose the heat into the triple digits.  Sweat pooled in puddles on the deck boards. Nobody got on that platform on purpose, I can assure you of that.  Some were ex-cons.  Some had dropped out of school. One of my men had declined his previous employer’s offer of early retirement at 50% pension, only to be laid off a few months later.  At almost 60 years old, uneducated, he found himself stuck on that insufferable platform.  All of those men were well aware that they were paying for every last one of their mistakes in a kind of earthly hell.  That’s the kind of toil Jesus is talking about here.

And Jesus is also talking about spiritual toil.  We’re talking now about people who have sinned, repented, and made amends, but who still can’t give up their crushing guilt.  Or people who want to stop bad behaviors, but who can’t.  Alcoholics, drug and gambling addicts, kleptomaniacs, people stuck in back-breaking spiritual labor with no end in sight.

Jesus begins telling us how to manage these burdens by thanking his Father for revealing the secret to little children.  A child, you see, can do nothing alone.  A child relies on his or her parents for support.  “Daddy, Mommy, tie my shoe.”  “I feel down and hurt myself.”  “I’m hungry.”  Jesus couldn’t have carried his cross if it hadn’t been for his Father.  The Father passes the strength to the Son, and the Son passes it to us.  Jesus says, “No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.”

And then Jesus concludes, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  A yoke is a wooden contraption for tying two oxen together so that they can pull a wagon or a plough.  Jesus is telling us that, if we want to find rest for our weary souls, all we have to do is yoke ourselves to him as he is yoked to the Father.  He’s telling us to rely on him as a child relies on its parents.

It’s an easy yoke, and it’s not a burden.  It is a relief, a fantastic blessing, to know that we don’t have to keep shouldering our burdens alone.  We can yoke ourselves to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  This is how we relieve our suffering today and find eternal bliss in the life to come.

Mettle Maker #362 and Holy Communion for 7/2/23

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Mettle Maker #362

What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Fitness and Self-Defense combo: Want to get your blood pumping with some practical fitness? Even people who aren’t into martial arts per se like to hit the heavy bag, right? Well, why not try pounding on a floor bag or sand bag? Set a timer for 4 rounds of 2 minutes each, no breaks, and run through this 8-minute beauty: 2 mins of Tackles to ground ‘n’ pound, 2 mins of Bottom Scissors squeeze and hit, 2 mins of Squeezes (arms and legs!), and 2 mins of Scarf Hold Switches. Now that’s what I call practical fitness and practical martial arts! Want to learn more old-school fitness and martial arts material? Need a Rough ‘n’ Tumble coach so you can learn more practical self-defensey sort of stuff? Need a fitness coach to help you design a training program that works for you? Click here to participate in one of our free programs!

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A selection of edible flowers that I dried and sealed for future use.

Wildwood outdoor skills: Edible flowers make superlative herbal teas. Grow them, pick them while fresh, and dry them in your dehydrator (or the old-fashioned way — on racks in a a cool, dry, well ventilated place). Use them within a couple of weeks, or package them with a vacuum sealer and save them for winter. Nasturtium is my current favorite — so peppery! Want more inspiration, and education, regarding outdoor skills? Click here and sign up for the 100% free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!

Holy Communion is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 7/2/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a, Ps 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, Rom 6:3-4, 8-11, Mt 10:37-42

Matthew 10:26—33  World English Bible Catholic Edition

37  He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me. 38  He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me. 39  He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

40  “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42  Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.”

Brothers and sisters, what usually passes for peace is something like a momentary  compromise, a negotiated ceasefire between combatants.  Open argument stops, but the parties continue to disagree fundamentally.  Fighting stops, but beneath the surface there is still anger and hatred.  But a truce isn’t peace. 

There may be periods of time when no rockets pass between Israel and Palestine, but there is no peace.  There are no Chinese troops currently invading Taiwan, and there is no bloodshed at the 38th parallel between North and South Korea at the moment, but there is no peace between these nations.  They’re not presently killing each other, but there are a great deal of people on both sides who would like to be.  That’s not peace.

Parents lay down the law and the kids may go along.  But behind bedroom doors, there’s plenty of grumbling on both sides.   Husbands and wives often disagree but bite their tongues and turn a cold shoulder.  Discontent continues to simmer.  Frustration keeps bubbling.  That’s not peace either.

Peace only comes when people talk honestly, discuss openly, and solve truly.  All of the old tit-for-tat, Hatfield-vs.-McCoy games have to be given up.  Truth has to be the highest ideal for all the negotiants.  This is why Jesus says that “He who loves father or mother…son or daughter, more than me isn’t worthy of me.”  At some point during these discussions, one or both parties must give up on “my country wrong or right.” 

Each side must forfeit petty grievances, give up on pride, and surrender their avenging will.  They must make a sacrifice.  A sacrifice.  Don’t you see?  This is why Jesus says, “He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me.”  That’s how you make peace here and now.  And that peace is far greater, an order of magnitude greater, than a mere truce or cease-fire.  It’s a laudable goal.  We should always strive for peace.  But there is an even greater Peace – a capital “P” kind of Peace – that’s an order of magnitude greater even than that: the Peace of Christ. 

The Peace of Christ only inheres when we surrender our lives to Christ. Jesus says, “He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”  We have let him take control.  To find peace between nations and families, we must sacrifice our petty jealousies, indictments, and vendettas.  But to find the Peace of Christ we have to sacrifice our whole selves. We have to get beyond the uneasy peace inside our heads and hearts.  We must stop rationalizing our lusts, compromising with our sins, holding onto our egos.  The Holy Spirit says in Revelation 3:16, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” 

God spits out the half-hearted truce-maker.  He spits out those seek to justify their internal, petty dictators and make deals with the devil.  Let’s not settle for truces, uneasy peaces, or temporary cease-fires – in the world or in ourselves.  Let us seek the true Peace of Christ.

Mettle Maker #361 and Holy Communion for 6/25/23

An Announcement

Hello brothers and sisters! I’ve been a little bit swamped lately, so this week’s post is a little late (just like last week's). Why have I been swamped? On account of my vestment into the priesthood yesterday. After a week of preparation, I left at 4 AM Saturday morning, drove 6 hours to The Riverside Church in NYC, got vested, performed my first Mass, had coffee, sandwiches, and fellowship, and then drove the six hours back. Frankly, It was all I could do to get Holy Communion done this morning after getting back into town last night just after 11 PM. See the photo set below. Online Holy Communion will transition to online Mass starting soon.

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What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

DID YOU KNOW…? That you you can get a daily motivational text message from Heritage Arts? Click the awesome (and perhaps a bit cheesy?) scrolling link below to sign up!

Click here to sign up for daily motivational text messages!

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Mettle Maker #361

Fitness: What is “fitness?” On the right is an 8-minute, practical fitness drill for self-defense and survival. Maybe your idea of fitness is losing 100 pounds, bench pressing your body weight, running your first 10K, or looking good with your shirt off. Regardless of your definition, if you’re looking for a free coach — somebody to help you design a fitness program and to help keep you motivated and on track — Sign up for our free distance learning program.

Self-defense: Put in 3 rounds of “shadow wrestling.” Get out your floor bag and lay the smackdown on it. Come up with your own routine or watch the video on the left (and by the way, there’s a personal development bonus element to that drill that you won’t want to miss). Want more martial arts training info? Check our our free distance learning program.

Wildwood. Check out this video about Danish outdoor kindergartens. The evidence is in — has been in for many, many years — that outdoor play is fantastic for kids and adults! Everybody wants to talk about “hacking” stuff, especially your brain. Here’s a great mental health “hack.” Go outside and engage in unstructured play, and take your kids with you if you have any. You’ll be glad you did. Is there enough interest to start an outdoor kindergarten here in Richmond? Well, if there was, Heritage Arts would love to be involved. If you would like to lend money, time, and/or resources to such a project, email me at mitch@heritageartsinc.com.

Holy Communion is now LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 9AM EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live and, to view and print a copy of the program for holy communion, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday 6/25/23 – Father Mitch

Readings: Jer 20:10-13, Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35, Rom 5:12-15, Mt 10:26-33

Matthew 10:26—33  World English Bible Catholic Edition

26  Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27  What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28  Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.†

29  “Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin?‡ Not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31  Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. 32  Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. 33  But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

Brothers and sisters, Truth, along with Goodness and Beauty, is one of the three transcendentals.  The transcendentals are the three irreducible qualities.  Think of it this way.  Most numbers can be evenly divided, like 16 let’s say, into 2 times 8, or 4 times 4.  Qualities are the same way.  Patriotism, for example, can be divided into constituent parts.  It’s made up of love of country, military service, civil service, philosophical and cultural aspects, defense of shared values, and so on.  Just as there are prime numbers that cannot be evenly reduced – like 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc. – the transcendental qualities cannot be reduced any further either.  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we can’t conceive of God’s infinite perfection. But we can see a reflection his perfection in the three irreducible transcendentals when they manifest in his creatures:

41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. the manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. *

So, in a sense, whenever we see Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in God’s creation, we see his fingerprints.

The power of Truth is in the forefront of today’s Gospel reading, which reminds us that speaking the truth is essential.  Look, we’re not perfect.  It’s difficult to communicate with others when we’re being honest and kind.  But if we twist facts, hide motives, and behave inconsiderately, communication is downright impossible.  Without truth, communication is doomed.  When I mentor people in the business world who aspire to be managers, I stress the importance of truth in all they do.  I often say, “Your success as a manager is directly proportional to your ability to express the truth with kindness, diplomacy, and tact.”  Without this ability, a manager can’t coach employees, build consensus among groups, gain the confidence of customers, or really do anything.  And the same is true of parents, coaches, and leaders of all kinds. 

There is no leadership without the ability to speak the truth in a unifying manner.  Jesus knows this.  And so, in today’s Gospel reading, he tells us to proclaim his truth without fear.  He knows that if we speak the truth – all forms of truth, but especially the truth of his Gospel – his message will spread.  Lives will be enriched, families strengthened, businesses improved, governments and organizations purged of corruption, and most importantly, souls will be saved. 

Fear not those who can only kill the body.  Speak the truth, in all things and about all things, and transform the world. 

† 10:28 or, Hell.

‡ 10:29 An assarion is a small coin worth one tenth of a drachma or a sixteenth of a denarius. An assarion is approximately the wages of one half hour of agricultural labor.

* Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 41: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PC.HTM

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§ 9:36 TR reads “weary” instead of “harassed”

† 10:3 NU omits “Lebbaeus, who was also called”

‡ 10:8 TR adds “raise the dead,”