Click here to sign up for daily motivational text messages!

...

Click here to sign up for daily motivational text messages! ...

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.”

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.