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Mettle Maker #388
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.”
Take on Something Big
Instead of a 3-part Mettle Maker, dealing separately with Self-Defense, Fitness, Outdoor Skills and Spiritual Development , just one message: “Take on something big.”
After 13 months, the cabin is all done. I worked on it from Nov. 2022 until Dec. 2023. What was it like? What did I learn? Well, I’m going to tell you a little bit about it, but it’s going to be like reading a travel magazine instead of actually making the trip. There are no words that can stand in for experience. Language can convey propositional and procedural knowledge, but words cannot convey the participatory or perspecitval. The project took about 500 hours. I worked in all kinds of weather, from 20F to 100F, in sun and in rain, from which I learned priceless survival skills. I handled a wide variety of hand tools, from which I learned a great deal about how to carry and manipulate weapons. I lifted, pulled, lugged, and hauled all manner of blocks, logs, boards, and planks across asphalt, grass, and mud, and even up and down ladders, which did more for my fitness than a thousand Push-ups and Squats. And finally, pushing through the project to the finish was a peerless spiritual exercise.
I encourage you to take on something big. Something that really tests you in mind, body, and spirit. Check out the photo set and video. Then think of something you can do — something from which you stand to learn more than you thought. Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Looking for a free outdoor skills program? Need a fitness coach? Looking for a spiritual community? Click here to sign up for one of our free distance learning programs!
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 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1/14/24 – Father Mitch
Readings: 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19, Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10, 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20, Jn 1:35-42
John 1:35-42 World English Bible Catholic Edition
Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.”
They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.† 40 One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ‡). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).§
In the Hebrew tradition, a nazarite was a religious leader who made a purity vow and, in exchange, was granted special blessings, such as the power of prophecy or the strength to defend and lead the people. For the duration of the term, which could be for a defined period or for a lifetime (as laid out in Numbers Chapter 6), the nazarite abstained from cutting his hair, the consumption of all alcoholic drinks, and from touching, or even being in the presence, of dead bodies. A nazarite submitted himself to the letter of the Mosaic law, setting himself apart and sacrificing his freedoms to bring wisdom, clarity, and safety to the people. There are only three nazarites mentioned in the scriptures: Samson, St. John the Baptist, and Samuel.
In our Old Testament reading, Samuel who is a nazarite youth, sleeps in the temple and hears the voice of God. But notice that he doesn’t hear very well. There’s some confusion. Samuel doesn’t realize it’s God who keeps awakening him from slumber. He thinks that it’s his mentor, Rabbi Eli, calling out to him. Finally, Eli tells him how to listen and reply. And scripture says that, “As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” in other words, his prophecies and counsels were always faithful to God.
Contrast Samuel’s story to our Gospel reading. Samuel cannot see God, only hear him, and he has trouble getting the message. You might say, he’s a little fuzzy, partially asleep perhaps, from being repeatedly awakened during the night. But Andrew, the first apostle called, and the unnamed disciple spend the daylight hours in the home where Jesus is staying. It isn’t night, but day, and they are wide awake. There is no darkness. There is only light.
Samuel’s communication with God is garbled and unclear. But Andrew and the other disciple receive direct communications from Jesus, and the Gospel is revealed. And here’s the biggest difference in the two stories: Samuel has to take special vows and sleep in the temple next to the Ark of Covenant in order to communicate with God. But Andrew and the unnamed disciple needed to take no vows whatsoever. Even an unnamed person, a literal nobody, can get closer to God than Samuel ever got, just by following Jesus and accepting him as the Son of God.
You see, for Samuel, his sanctity is based on self-control, the particularities of his appearance, his diet, and the things with which he comes into contact. And while it’s good to be mindful about all of that, we see through Jesus’ teaching that rules and laws must work in concert with morality. As Jesus said in Matthew 15:11, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Rules, laws, self-control, abstention, and the like, while useful, can only take us so far on their own. We must demonstrate our faith through action and follow the Lord.
‡ 1:41 “Messiah” (Hebrew) and “Christ” (Greek) both mean “Anointed One”.
§ 1:42 “Cephas” (Aramaic) and “Peter” (Greek) both mean “Rock”.