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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.