Heads up: New Video Series
We’ve started a new video series on the power of ritual. The first one in the new series, called “Ritual is Prime,” is already up. Subsequent episodes are going to get even more edgy, creative, and challenging, and some are going to be targeted at specific YouTubers with whom we want to dialogue.
Our goal with the new series is to get the message out. We want to talk about something we feel is extremely important — the uniting power of ritual! — while making friends with other individuals and organizations with whom we share vision. Also, we think this series has the potential to be very entertaining and illuminating, and we need all the viewers we can get. The Heritage YouTube channel only has a few hundred followers, and we need to get it up to 1,000 in order to monetize.
New Format
This week we announce our new format — one weekly blog post with everything included. You’ll get the weekly Mettle Maker that has been posting on Saturdays, plus the weekly Holy Communion that used to come out on Sundays. This week we’re moving to the new format today. But going forward, you’ll get the new all-in-format post on Sundays.
Why the change? Well, this will save Mitch a little time so that he can write more books and make better videos. But mainly we’re trying to encourage people who come for one thing to read, enjoy, share and benefit from the entire banquet when they come. We’re trying to refine our focus and make clear our mission.
Speaking of which…
Re-Focusing on Our Mission
Heritage Arts’ mission is to bring the wisdom of the past into the present via free classes relating to self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development. We’re looking toward the future while preserving our shared human heritage — the accumulated knowledge of those who came before us.
And we’re encouraging you to remember that life is short — so live with intent!
And now, on with the show!
More Power: Mettle Maker #310
Self-defense: Put in 3 rounds of full power knife training vs. your heavy bag. Pay attention to what happens. Does one of more thrust, stab, or slash hurt your hand, tweak your wrist, or make your elbow go wonky? If you can’t do it full power, it’s not a weapon. Get there. Want more martial arts training info? Check our our free distance learning program.
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Fitness: What is power? In classical mechanical physics, P = W/T, that is to say, power is work over time. The faster you do the same work, the more power you need. One mechanical horsepower lifts 550 pounds (250 kg) by 1 foot high in 1 second (about 756 watts). A Ford Escort with a 110 hp motor weighing in a 2,400 lbs goes from 0 to 60 mph in 11 seconds. A Shelby Cobra with a 320 hp motor gets there in just 4.4 seconds, despite weighing a few hundred more pounds. When you train for power, you are training to do the same work across a shorter time span. A sprinter is always training for power, period. A weightlifter who is trying to do as many thrusters as possible in 30 seconds is training for power. A martial artist training to hit a heavy a bag as hard as possible is training for power. Keep this in mind when you train. And always make sure that you are training with one of the six training dimensions in mind (Speed, Accuracy, Form, Endurance, Mobility, or Power). What’s the difference between speed and power? Read the book featured on the right, or sign up for our free distance learning program.
Wildwood. Power is work over time. In survival we often have to get things done quickly, like make shelter before dark or get a fire going before our hands get numb from cold. But increased power burns more calories. That’s a real concern whether you’re just carrying your food on a long hike or you’re in a survival situation. What to do? Get smarter and more efficient. Here’s an example. When you need to gather wood, just amble along spotting the best dead wood. When you think you’ve seen enough to make an armload, walk the same path back and gather as you go. This will drastically cut your caloric expense (especially if the wood is heavy)! Want to learn more? Sign up for our free Wildwood distance learning program.
Holy Communion for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary 6/25/22
To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Text of today’s homily below.
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If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you. Please click here to schedule a chat with archdeacon Mitch if you are in need of pastoral counseling. And if you’d like to assist in the beautification, improvement and maintenance of St. Barachiel Chapel, or support our educational mission, please click here.
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, June 25, 2022
Readings: Lam 2:2, 10-14, 18-19, Ps 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21, Lk 2:41-51
Luke 2:41-51 American Standard Version
41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the feast; 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not; 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they sought for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance: 45 and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him. 46 And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions: 47 and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Brothers and sisters, all of us mortals come and go. Having had our day in the sun, night falls upon us and we go to our rest. The secrets in our hearts – our fleeting hopes and fears, our private sins and penances, all of our unspoken thoughts good and bad – die with us. No one will ever know our most private burdens and joys. Who can know what has been in the heart of any mortal once they have passed?
But during the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we meditate upon the mysteries within the heart of the mother of God. What must it have been like for Mary? What were her innermost thoughts, considerations, joys and sorrows? Surely her heart ached under the push and pull of emotional extremes. We can only imagine the awe and fear of being visited by an angel, or the simultaneous joy and burden of being the choice vessel of our Savior Jesus Christ.
We can only imagine what it might have been like watching her son transition into adulthood. Having raised her son from infancy – that is, having instructed and corrected him, having taught him all of the things mothers teach their sons, like how to be patient, to wait his turn, to be polite and use his manners, not to whine and complain, to share his toys with the other children and so on – what must it have been like for her to watch her son slowly transform into the greatest teacher the world had ever known or ever would know? Which of us has the character of the mother of God, who had the humility to accept the teaching of the son she once taught?
Imagine how her heart swelled with faith, joy, and pride as her son performed incredible miracles; then imagine her crushing sadness when witnessing his abandonment, persecution, and torture on a cross. Her heart experienced the crushing agony of receiving the broken, lifeless body of her son as it was lowered from the cross; then, just few days later, her heart must have been swollen to bursting with the unimaginable bliss of seeing him rise from the dead.
No mortal heart has ever suffered the emotional extremes endured by the mother of God. Let us take the day, my friends, to pause and reflect. Let us step into the heart of our mother Mary and walk with her in her great joys and in her great sorrows.