Restriction, Skin in the Game, and New Synergies: Mettle Maker #405 and Holy Eucharist for the Ascension of the Lord 5/12/24

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What’s the weekly mettle maker?

Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Mettle maker #405: Big Changes! What’s new?

  1. All three of our original programs are now unified under the name Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. In order to understand why we’ve made this change, you need to know a little bit of the history. Read last week’s post for more details.

  2. Skin in the game is now required. All of our programs are still free. But if you can afford it, we now require a donation of at least $1/month. If you can’t afford it, you have to volunteer to do something. You can be a social media promoter, a blogger, researcher, newsletter editor, fundraiser, mentor, artist, or even come up with your own idea. At the very least you should attend weekly fellowship and hang out (see link in the description of each week’s Holy Eucharist LIVE service below).

  3. The weekly Mettle Maker will morph a little. You’re going to start to see posts that blend the various aspects of the programs in a way that’s more challenging and synergistic. Sounds so much cooler when you use buzz words, right? Seriously though — the way we’ve been presenting things has accentuated the separateness of martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development rather than their interrelatedness. Time to change that.

  4. Want to be a Rough ‘n’ Tumbler? You need to practice self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development the way the old-timers did.

And that’s why we’ve rolled everything into one program called Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble.

New video releases on Monday!

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Sunday, 5/12/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9, Eph 4:1-13, Mk 16:15-20

 

Mark 16:15-20 World English Bible

 

Jesus spoke to his disciples.

 

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 17  These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 18  they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

19 So then the Lord,† after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

 

 

Most experts believe that the Gospel of Mark, as recorded by its original author, ends at Mark 8, and certainly the oldest Greek manuscripts do end there.  But by sheer volume, the vast majority of manuscripts contain verses 9 - 20, as do most Bibles since the Council of Trent ruled on the canon (although some place these verses in brackets).  What’s the answer?  Well, the simplified version of the argument in Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the topic runs to a staggering 10,000 words -- over 40 pages! – and we’re not Bible experts.¹  We’re not sorting this out here today.  We’re just simple believers.  So let us ask ourselves, "What is the average Christian to think and believe regarding Mark 16:9-20?"

To be sure, these are unpopular verses with those who look at them with modern eyes skeptical of demons, snake handling, and speaking in tongues.  While I believe that the works described within them were literally performed at that time, and do sometimes happen today, many do not.  Perhaps God knew our dispositions would change over time.  Perhaps, knowing that some would be skeptical, he allowed two viable versions to persist, one for the skeptics and one for the non-skeptics. 

Or perhaps, as Christians assuming that the Holy Bible is a sacred document, we should suppose that the text, to at least some degree, has been delivered into our hands by God.  And having received these verses, perhaps we should feel charged to contend with them, to interpret them, to allow them to work in us, to change us, and to form us. 

To those who are skeptical about the literal truth of the miraculous gifts described in these verses, I would like to point out that Jesus Christ's Universal Church has done a great job, in a metaphorical sense, of doing all the things described.  We Christians have driven out many demons – the bad ideas and bad behaviors of the ancient world, such as slavery, infanticide, and polygamy – pushed them out of the mainstream and into the realm of taboo. 

We have handled the deadly snakes – evildoers of all kinds, liars, betrayers, and enemies of God's message and his children’s wellbeing, both within and without his church – and we have not died. We have in fact grown our numbers, our influence, and our good works. And we have mastered speaking in tongues, translating God's Word into every known language worldwide. 

And although we've been tempted upon occasion to drink from this fallen world's poisoned well – its media, entertainment, and negative influences – by God's grace we have not been struck down.  And somehow we humble members of Christ’s church have managed to lay our hands on the sick -- onto those who walk in the darkness of unbelief -- so that they might be healed of their blindness and see. 

Let us all give thanks for God's saving grace and for a continuation of our Lord’s healing gifts which we have received.  But more than that, let’s accept the truth of these miraculous gifts and take them out into the world.  Let’s use them spread them far and wide, so that even more of God’s children may be spared from the sickness of sin and delivered from the disease of separation from God.

† 16:8 TR adds “quickly”

¹ https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09674b.htm


What is Rough and Tumble? Mettle Maker #404 and Holy Eucharist for 5/5/24

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What’s the weekly mettle maker?

Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Announcements!

All three of our original programs are now unified under the name Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. Now, when you enroll, you can split your practice time any way you want between self-defense, fitness, and outdoor skills, and spiritual development. Focus on one or two, split your attention evenly, whatever you want! This maintains individual freedom and ensures that we all progress together as a unified group!

Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

What is Rough and Tumble?

Again, all of our programs — self-defense, fitness, and outdoor skills — are now unified under the rubric of Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. In order to understand why we’ve made this change, you need to know a little bit of the history.

ROUGH ‘N’ TUMBLE

Rough ‘n’ Tumble, as a fighting method, is hard to tease apart from it’s historical environment.

Rough ‘n’ Tumble was a manner of no-holds-barred fighting that originated in the Southern Virginia backcountry during the Colonial Era.  An amalgam of the varying techniques brought to America by colonists from all over the world, blended with the fighting methods of the over 900 distinct indigenous tribes, American Rough ‘n’ Tumble is perhaps the world’s most fearsome martial art.  Many of the old techniques were no doubt lost, but many also found their way into boxing, wrestling, and the mayhem-managing methods used by mobsters, policemen, soldiers, and citizens.  Although it was never formally codified, Rough ‘n’ Tumble used to be a household word, and dedicated martial artists and researchers, like Mark Hatmaker and myself, are diligently laboring to bring together the various sources and make it so once more. 

If I had to boil it down to one sentence, what makes Rough and Tumble different from other martial arts is that strikes are grabs, grabs are locks, and locks are strikes -- all are one.   Yes, all are one in more ways than one. You see, what we’re realizing more and more is that Rough ‘n’ Tumble, as a fighting method, is hard to tease apart from its historical environment. It’s hard to fight like an old-timer if you think like a modern person. And it’s hard to step into the old-time mindset without immersing yourself in that world.

It boils down to this:

  • BODY MECHANICS. Old-timers moved differently because they worked and lived differently. They rode horses, mucked stalls, carried buckets, swung hammers, axes, and sledges, and so on. Daily life profoundly affected their body mechanics.

  • FITNESS. Their definition of fitness was different because they got plenty of exercise from the way they worked. Fitness in those days wasn’t about musclebuilding. It was about maintenance and restoration of health in body and mind.

  • SELF-DEFENSE. The times they lived in were more violent and warlike, which meant that the way they fought was far less sportive. Even when they fought for “sportive reasons” it was less about money and fame, and more about settling disputes in a lawless country or advancing within the hierarchies of various groups, like miners, loggers, military services, and so on.

  • ACCOUNTABILITY. The day-to-day survival of a rough ‘n’ tumbler was dependent on his knowledge of, and attention to, the world around him. There were no early warning systems for attacks by invading armies, tornadoes or floods, not even a simple weather forecast. There were no phones, no 911 operators, no first-responders, and no emergency rooms. There were no supermarkets or big box stores. If a crop failed or a disease claimed domestic animals, hunting and gathering ensued. There was no social safety net beyond family and church, no insurance for health, life, or even home. Old-timers lived or died by their own senses and wits. They were fully embodied, engaged, and accountable in ways that we can scarcely imagine.

If you want to be like the old-timers, you need to practice self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development the way the old-timers did.


And that’s why we’ve rolled everything into one program called Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble.

For more info on the fighting aspects of Rough and Tumble:

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Sunday, 4/21/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 4:8-12, Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29, 1 Jn 3:1-2, Jn 10:11-18

 

John 10:11-18 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

“I am the good shepherd.* The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12  He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13  The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15  even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16  I have other sheep which are not of this fold.* I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17  Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, * that I may take it again. 18  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

 

 

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep.”  Steeped as we are in Christianity and its values, this is easy to hear in a certain familiar way.  Jesus is Lord, his church is his flock, we follow his lead and obey his commandments, he leads us good pasture which is eternal life, and so on.  This is familiar ground for us.  But we must not let this become so familiar that it gets boring.  We cannot afford to nod off.  We can’t snooze on this point.

Jesus’ words were very scandalous at the time.  There’s a reason why, immediately following this, in Verse19, we read,

 

“[A] division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

 

Why were these words, so tame to our Christian ears, so inflammatory?  Because the theme of the shepherd king is as old as the Hebrews’ most revered prophets, and Jesus is invoking their ancient words of criticism.

 

Jeremiah scolded the kings of Israel for their abuses, proclaiming,

 

“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,

“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch;

and he will reign as king and deal wisely,

and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved,

and Israel will dwell safely.

This is his name by which he will be called:

The LORD our righteousness. (Jer 23:5-6)

 

And Ezekiel picked up the same theme, saying,

 

11 “ ‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

 

Yes, Jesus’ words angered the leaders of his day because he echoed accusations they had heard many times, from the mouths of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and also Zechariah, to whom the Lord said,

 

“Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!” (Zecharaiah 11:17).

 

We need to hear the words of Jesus right now, just as the Jews heard them then.  Because merely human shepherds of all kinds – religious leaders, political leaders, social, community, and educational leaders – are always waxing and waning.  Some openly work evil.  Some do great things for a time and then lose their way.  Ultimately, all fall short of the glory of God. 

But God is eternal.  He will not fail us.  And this, brothers and sisters, is the thing that Jesus implied that most angered the leaders of his day.  This is the fact we take for granted that was so scandalous at the time: that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  That Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to gather together his flock from all the peoples of the earth – who laid down his life for his sheep, and then took it up again, rising from the dead.

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*10:11 Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22

 *10:16 Isaiah 56:8

 *10:17 Isaiah 53:7-8

A 99-Cent DIY, Dead Nettle, Six CNLs, and Foot Washing Facts: Mettle Maker #403 and Holy Eucharist for 4/28/24

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What’s the weekly mettle maker?

Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Announcements!

You may have noticed some changes. First, Heritage Self-Defense is now Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. We feel like this more accurately reflects what we do. Second, our Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble: Solo training training on the cheap: the 99¢ DIY training arm. Get yourself a pool noodle from the discount store and tape on a bungee cord just long enough to reach around your heavy bag or floor bag. Snap it on and voilà! Does it resist like a real person? Nope. But you you can practice your technique and your body mechanics.

Things You Can Do With Your 99¢ DIY Training Arm

  1. Use it as a slip stick

  2. Practice your grappling maneuvers

    • Outside Wristlock, Top Wristlock, 2-on-1 Russian, Gooseneck, Muffle, Double Wristlock, Whizzer, Master Lock, etc. to infinity

  3. Practice your wrestling holds

    • Top Wristlock, Muffle, Double Wristlock, Shark Fin, Bicep Slicer, Figure 4 Arm Scissors, etc. to infinity

Ultimately though, you can’t learn to fight by training solo. You need training partners! Looking for a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program and some help starting a club in your home town? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

SIX AWESOME CONSTITUTIONALS - CLICK HERE!

Heritage Fitness: Last week we reminded you that we’ve been doing constitutionals since 2009, 15 years strong, and we still think they’re the twice/week prescription for foundational fitness. Here are six of our favorites — click the pic on the right!

Don’t know these exercises? Sounds like you need a fitness coach! Hmm..I wonder who could help you with that?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!

Want a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Spring edible: Lamium purpureum a.k.a. Purple Deadnettle. Great in salads or as a cooked vegetable — and available virtually everywhere for free! You know what else is free? The Heritage Wildwood distance learning program! Click here to sign up!

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Sunday, 4/28/24 – Father Mitch

Readings: Acts 9:26-31, Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32, 1 Jn 3:18-24, Jn 15:1-8

 

John 15:1-8 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

1  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2  Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3  You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4  Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5  I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6  If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7  If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8  “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

 

Jesus says, "You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you." (John 15:8).  To what word is Jesus referring when he says, “the word I spoke to you”?  Since at least 1582, the year of the revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible, it has been believed that Jesus is referring to John 13:10, "Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

This is all rather confusing until we think of what it was like to bathe in Jesus' day.  For us, bathing involves going to the bathroom, washing up, and toweling off.  Why would someone who has bathed need to have his feet washed?  But in Jesus' day, there was no indoor plumbing.  For thousands of years, a full bath was something that might be undertaken once a week or even once a month.  After bathing, either in a public bath or in a body of water, it was necessary to walk home in your sandals.  No matter how clean you were, there was always a little dirt on your feet that you’d need to clean off, if not when you got home, certainly before climbing into bed for the night.

This is an analogy for what happens after baptism.  We wash away our sins, accept Jesus Christ, and emerge clean from the bath.  But as we walk through the world as missionaries, evangelizing, serving, giving of ourselves, trying to be Christ-like, we encounter negativity, obstructions, and pushback.  Anger and discord are everywhere.  Just trying to find news and entertainment that’s not filled with immoral messaging is a struggle.  And this fallen world sometimes forces difficult choices.  It’s hard to observe the sabbath, for example, when the rest of the culture wants to treat Sunday like any other day off work.  A dusty film of accumulates on our feet as we walk about in this fallen culture, working, shopping, playing, and so on.

In Matthew 10:14, Jesus says to his apostles, Whoever doesn’t receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.” We have to let go of the accumulated grime and negativity, to repent of our mistakes and be forgiven.  We need to gather with our brothers and sisters and wash each other’s feet.  In John 13:14, he says, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” 

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is equating the pruning with the washing.  That’s why in today’s reading he says, “You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”  At the end of the day, our brothers and sisters in the church wash us clean, renew our cleanliness, and strengthen our faith.  Our clergy and our friends in the faith trim away the dead wood to keep us healthy and strong. 

More and more people in the world today believe that they can go it alone.  They turn toward private expressions of faith or lack thereof.  How often have you heard someone say something like, “I’m a spiritual person, I’m just not into organized religion”?  According to experts, the self-improvement market in the U.S. is worth over $13 billion, “fueled by growth in personal coaching services, self-help books and audiobooks, and self-help apps.”¹

But Christianity stands opposed to the idea in every way.  Our most sacred ritual, the Holy Eucharist, is an act of communion.  We are charged to come together.  To wash each other’s feet.  To prune away the dead wood.  To renew one another in Christ Jesus.

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¹ https://blog.marketresearch.com/self-improvement-market-recovers-from-the-pandemic-worth-13.4-billion-in-the-u.s

11 Subs, Ground Mobility, and a Moon Quiz: Mettle Maker #402 and Holy Eucharist for 4/21/24

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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.”

Announcements!

You may have noticed some changes. First, Heritage Self-Defense is now Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. We feel like this more accurately reflects what we do. Second, our Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

Apologies from Fr. Mitch for the livestream crash of Holy Eucharist last week morning — technical difficulties — we’ll do better going forward.

Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble: Get your submissions straight. For the last month or so we’ve been working on your “get on top IQ.” Now we’re going to focus on building a solid vocabulary of submission hooks — starting with the 11 moves in the video on the left. Should you watch the video? Sure! But you should also practice them with a friend and/or on a some kind of human analog. What would be a good human analog? Stay tuned — a video will be coming out next week containing DIY instructions for a $5 training option that will blow your mind!

Looking for a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Constitutionals — we’ve been doing them since 2009, 15 years strong, and they’re still the twice/week prescription for foundational fitness. Twice a week, come hell or high water, knock out a constitutional (“CNL”). You won’t regret it — I promise. What’s a CNL? 7 calisthenics, 25 reps each, back to back, with as little rest as possible, with a target time of <20 mins.

This week’s CNL is a mobility set designed to build functional strength when moving around on the ground. Why does ground mobility matter? Well, you wouldn’t want to do a reenactment of that famous “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” commercial, would you? And if you live an active life, some ground mobility is really useful if you have to go underneath your house to shut off the water because of a leak, when working on a vehicle, in a survival situation, for self-defense, and so on.

Ground Mobility Constitutional (“CNL”)

Bear Walk (100 yards)

Shrimp (25 reps)

Crawl (100 yards)

Shin Box (25 reps)

Back Bridge (25 reps)

Sit-Outs (25 reps)

Pikes (25 reps)

Don’t know these exercises? Ask me in the comments and maybe I’ll shoot a video.

Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Moon phase matching quiz.

Moonrise times vary by phase and time of year, but are predictable within a certain range. Match the phase with the moonrise time (left). Click here to view the answers.

Why does it matter? Here are three good reasons:

1. If you’re lost somewhere at night without a light source, you need to know when the moon is going to rise and illuminate your surroundings.

2. The moon rises in the east and sets in the west (roughly), the same way the sun does. Watch the moon rise or set and you can get your bearings when lost.

3. A moon phase cycle is about 29 days, which means there’s about a week between each of the four phases. If you’re on the move at night for an extended period of time, to avoid the desert heat, pursuers in a self-defense situation, etc. you can predict when the moon is, or is not, going to be in the sky and how bright it will, or will not, be.

Don’t know this stuff? Get with the program – the free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program! Click here to sign up!

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Sunday, 4/21/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 4:8-12, Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29, 1 Jn 3:1-2, Jn 10:11-18

 

John 10:11-18 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

“I am the good shepherd.* The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12  He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13  The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15  even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16  I have other sheep which are not of this fold.* I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17  Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, * that I may take it again. 18  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

 

 

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep.”  Steeped as we are in Christianity and its values, this is easy to hear in a certain familiar way.  Jesus is Lord, his church is his flock, we follow his lead and obey his commandments, he leads us good pasture which is eternal life, and so on.  This is familiar ground for us.  But we must not let this become so familiar that it gets boring.  We cannot afford to nod off.  We can’t snooze on this point.

Jesus’ words were very scandalous at the time.  There’s a reason why, immediately following this, in Verse19, we read,

 

“[A] division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

 

Why were these words, so tame to our Christian ears, so inflammatory?  Because the theme of the shepherd king is as old as the Hebrews’ most revered prophets, and Jesus is invoking their ancient words of criticism.

 

Jeremiah scolded the kings of Israel for their abuses, proclaiming,

 

“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,

“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch;

and he will reign as king and deal wisely,

and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved,

and Israel will dwell safely.

This is his name by which he will be called:

The LORD our righteousness. (Jer 23:5-6)

 

And Ezekiel picked up the same theme, saying,

 

11 “ ‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

 

Yes, Jesus’ words angered the leaders of his day because he echoed accusations they had heard many times, from the mouths of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and also Zechariah, to whom the Lord said,

 

“Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!” (Zecharaiah 11:17).

 

We need to hear the words of Jesus right now, just as the Jews heard them then.  Because merely human shepherds of all kinds – religious leaders, political leaders, social, community, and educational leaders – are always waxing and waning.  Some openly work evil.  Some do great things for a time and then lose their way.  Ultimately, all fall short of the glory of God. 

But God is eternal.  He will not fail us.  And this, brothers and sisters, is the thing that Jesus implied that most angered the leaders of his day.  This is the fact we take for granted that was so scandalous at the time: that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  That Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to gather together his flock from all the peoples of the earth – who laid down his life for his sheep, and then took it up again, rising from the dead.

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*10:11 Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22

 *10:16 Isaiah 56:8

 *10:17 Isaiah 53:7-8

7 Sweeps, a CNL, 3 Rules of 3, and the Miraculous Ordinary: Mettle Maker #401 and Holy Eucharist for 4/13/24

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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.”

Announcements!

You may have noticed some changes. First, Heritage Self-Defense is now Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. We feel like this more accurately reflects what we do. Second, our Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

Apologies from Fr. Mitch for the livestream crash of Holy Eucharist last week morning — technical difficulties — we’ll do better going forward.

Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble: Another expansion of your “get on top IQ.” Yeah, I know, learning sweeps isn’t exactly a giant sizzling steak on the martial arts menu. But you need to be an expert at getting off the bottom. In self-defense, when you are on the ground you lose maneuverability, visibility, ability. That is, you can’t run, gravity augments your attacker’s strength and weakens yours, and you can’t turn your head and see 360 degrees. Practice these 7 moves solo and with a partner until you have them down pat. Looking for a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Constitutionals — we’ve been doing them since 2009, 15 years strong, and they’re still the twice/week prescription for foundational fitness. Twice a week, come hell or high water, knock out a constitutional (“CNL”). You won’t regret it — I promise. What’s a CNL? 7 calisthenics, 25 reps each, back to back, with as little rest as possible, with a target time of <20 mins. This week’s CNL is a modified version of Mark Hatmaker’s original Gladiator, a warrior fitness program that Mark no longer advocates (and neither do I). Mark and I have both gone 100% “old-school,” accentuating quality over quantity (that is, form and pace over repetitions).

Pace: Positive/concentric movement (against gravity) = 1 second, negative/eccentric phase = 3 to 4 secs, total rep time = 4 - 5 secs.

Reps: 25 of each

The Modified Gladiator

Push-up (w/ Up and Down Dog)

Hindu Squat

Back Bridge

Crunch

Pull-ups

Stick Rotations

Jump Squats


Don’t know these exercises? Ask me in the comments and I’ll shoot a video.

Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: The Three Rules of Three.

You can survive:

  • 3 hours in extreme temperatures

  • 3 days without water

  • 3 weeks without food

Toward that end, if you find yourself stuck in a survival situation,

  1. Secure shelter first. Protect yourself against a sinking boat, deflating raft, falling or rising temperatures, incoming tides, approaching wildfires or storms, and so on.

  2. Get a fire going. If temps are going to be low enough to threaten hypothermia, fire is part of the shelter equation (temps as high as 50F can cause hypothermia if your clothes are wet). Plus, you’re going to need fire in order to boil water for drinking and to signal for help. Gather what you need to start, build, and maintain a fire. Bank coals and use caution — burning down your shelter or starting a forest fire will seriously hurt your survival chances.

  3. Find water. After you get your shelter and fire tucked in, then begin to find and secure a water source.

  4. Find food. Only after you have secured and water should you begin searching for food.

Interested in a free outdoor skill training program? Click here to sign up!

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Sunday, 4/13/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19, Ps 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9, 1 Jn 2:1-5a, Lk 24:35-48

 

Luke 24:35-48 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39  See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 He took them, and ate in front of them. 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”

45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48  You are witnesses of these things.

 

 

 

The ancient stories of the Greeks, Romans, and Vikings, the sacred tales of India and China, and all of the pre-Christian religions, contain magic weapons, transformations from human to animal and from animal to human, gods with animal heads and multiple arms, elves, fairies, and so on.  Their stories explain how the everyday world emerged out of magical powers and events.

The Bible stories are the opposite.  In our religion, miraculous things mostly look like ordinary things.  The sacred emerges out of the mundane in the same way that a seedling emerges from the soil, or rain falls from a cloud – naturally. 

In the stale and dusty myths of the pagan religions, the world used to be magical but has somehow become tired, boring, and very unmagical.  In the Christian version of history, with the birth of Jesus, the miraculous emerges into and out of the ordinary filling all of heaven and earth with enchantment and glory.   

Look here – there are a million bushes in the desert, each one indistinguishable from the next.  But one of these ordinary bushes is engulfed in a strange fire which does not burn it up; and out of it God's voice calls forth to Moses and explains the destiny of God's chosen people.  The instrument of baptism which welcomes new believers into the company of the faithful is just ordinary water.  David slays Goliath with a common, everyday rock.  Samson's superhuman strength is bestowed not by magic, but by keeping a sacred vow to abstain from drinking alcohol and cutting his hair.  At the wedding in Cana, Jesus turns ordinary water into ordinary wine. 

This theme continues when the risen Son of God appears alive, yet tethered to reality by his wounds; inside a locked room, but yet very solid; immortal, but hungry for a bite of food. And on the road to Emmaus, he travels unrecognized, only appearing within the most mundane of activities -- during a simple meal of bread and wine. God is revealed to us through the everyday.  The bread and wine on the altar may be indistinguishable from any other bread and wine, and the words of the priest and congregation may not have any visible affect upon them.  But the ordinary-seeming bread and wine are most assuredly the miraculous Body and Blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  

Announcements! Mettle Maker #400 and Holy Eucharist for Divine Mercy Sunday 4/7/24

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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.”

Announcements!

You may have noticed some name changes. First, Heritage Self-Defense is now Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. We feel like this more accurately reflects what we do. Second, our Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

Apologies from Fr. Mitch for the livestream crash of Holy Eucharist this morning — technical difficulties — we’ll do better next Sunday.

Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble: There’s no such thing as advanced martial arts techniques. Advanced martial arts techniques are basic martial arts techniques done flawlessly. And that takes practice. See the video on the left for a constitutional that will build and preserve foundational skills — video premieres tomorrow at 4:45 PM. Looking for a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Light dumbbells for shoulder health. When injured or in pain, always seek the advice of a qualified health professional. But if you’re just starting to get a twinge in your shoulders, and you’d like to reign it in before it gets out of hand, check out the dumbbell exercises in the video on the right. Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: You don’t have to aspire to being the next Les Stroud, Creek Stewart, or Tim MacWelch. I mean, you can if you want to, of course. But the goal of Heritage Wildwood is to get you comfortable outdoors in any weather, to help you develop a deep appreciation for outdoor life, and instill in your good basic survival skills. One way to do that is to go camping — lots. Not every trip needs to be a Bear Grylls drama-palooza. This past weekend I camped at Occoneechee State Park (see video above). No, I didn’t go primitive camping in some backwoods location. But I still learned a lot about fishing and tides from my camping buddy. Every minute outdoors with your eyes and ears open is a learning opportunity. Go out there and , have a good time, and never miss an opportunity to learn. Interested in a free outdoor skill training program? Click here to sign up!

Holy Eucharist 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 Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, 4/7/24 – Father Mitch

Readings: Acts 4:32-35, Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24, 1 Jn 5:1-6, Jn 20:19-31

 

John 20: 19-31 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! 23  If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.”

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,§ wasn’t with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 After eight days, again his disciples were inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me,† you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

30 Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

 

 

Today's gospel reading it's often referred to as the basis of the sacrament of confession. The church has long believed that confession and forgiveness are central to the faith. As we see in the interlude concerning the doubts of Thomas, confession seems to be somehow related to belief. But how?

Perhaps the continuity would be more clear if we looked at it this way: if you are Thomas and you don't believe, then you're not bound by Christ's commandments. That is to say, if you have not accepted the yoke of Christ, which is to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself, then no matter how much you sin, in your mind at least, you have no sin.  If you don’t believe Jesus has risen, he just another teacher, no better and no worse than any other.  You cannot be faulted by anyone, and certainly not by yourself, for straying from his path.

But as soon you accept the reality of the risen Christ, your sin emerges. Because although his joke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30), that is to say, his yoke is simple and uncomplicated, it is extremely difficult to put God and our neighbor's needs before our own. We are going to fail often, and the weight of failure and transgression can be unbearably heavy. 

As someone who has spent long hours and sleepless nights replaying again and again many decades of mistakes, errors, sins, and transgressions, I can testify that it can be very hard to discern when and if it's okay to lay down one’s guilt and move on. We may know that Jesus Christ loves us so much that he suffered for us death on a cross. We may know that he is just and forgiving beyond measure. But have we been truly contrite? Have we made adequate restitution? If someone we have wronged doesn't accept our apology, what does that mean?  You may be left saying to yourself, “Have I been forgiven or not?”

Jesus is presenting to us a way to be freed from the crushing debt of sin. He is telling us that we can trust our priests and bishops to hear our confessions and give rest to our souls. 

As C. S. Lewis said, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." At Easter he conquered death and showed us the way toward eternal life. Today, on the Sunday of Divine Mercy, he shows us his heart and delivers us from the bondage of sin.


† 20:29 TR adds “Thomas,”

Mettle Maker #399 and Holy Communion for Easter Sunday 3/31/24

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Mettle Maker #399

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 Self-Defense: There’s no such thing as advanced martial arts techniques. Advanced martial arts techniques are basic martial arts techniques done flawlessly. And that takes practice. See the video on the left for a constitutional that will build and preserve foundational skills — video premieres tomorrow at 4:45 PM. Looking for a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Shoulders, knees, and lower back are the three most common trouble spots for aches and pains. When injured or in pain, always seek the advice of a qualified health professional. But if you’re just starting to get a twinge, and you’d like to reign it in before it gets out of hand, check out the home remedy exercises in the the video on the left. Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: A huge part of learning outdoor skills generally — and Heritage Wildwood in particular — is developing independence and self-reliance. Last week I sent with friends to attend the 249th re-enactment of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” speech. Talk about independence and self-reliance! Be bold. Be brave. Take control of your life and destiny, and sign up for our free adult outdoor skills program! Click here to sign up!

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 Easter Sunday, 3/31/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43, Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23, Col 3:1-4, Victimae paschali laudes, Jn 20:1-9

 

John 20:1-9 (World English Bible, Catholic Edition)

 

1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!”

3 Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he didn’t enter in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

 

 

If we sacrifice some luxuries today in order to put some money into savings, we may have enough resources to experience a rebirth in our retirement.  If we put in a little extra effort at work, we could breathe new life into our careers, or perhaps save a dying business.  Recognizing the power of sacrifice and rebirth can have a profound effect on the health of our economic affairs. 

And what about your personal health?  If you sacrifice junk food, excessive fried foods, rich sweets, and delicious treats, and you could create for yourself a whole new you, couldn’t you?  Sacrificing what we want revitalizes relationships too.  What if you went on a road trip with a friend or a spouse.  And, instead of being in the driver’s seat, you handed her the keys.  What if you only ate at the restaurants where she likes to eat and only stopped at the roadside attractions that interest him?  What if you let the other person control the radio station or the music rotation?  Isn’t it possible the two of you could turn a new page?  Yes, seeing the power of sacrifice and rebirth can also bring dying relationships back from the dead.

Imagine, if you will, what would happen if our politicians embraced sacrifice and rebirth in how they governed.  What would happen if, instead of focusing on “getting’-while-the-getting’s-good” they embraced self-sacrifice?  What if we, as citizens, did the same?  Might it be possible for us to save our nation from bitterness and polarization?  Yes, it’s also true in the political realm: sacrifice contains within itself the power to mend and to save.

The reason why sacrifice and has such a marvelous restorative power is that it is the axis around which the universe turns.  What is true economically, physically, personally, and politically, is true because beneath all of existence there is a metaphysical truth that is truer than them all.  And this metaphysical truth underpins all of reality.

Just as a volcano throws up dust and fire into the stratosphere, Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection sends up great saints, martyrs, and heroes to remake the world.  Just as the plates of the earth’s crust smash together across eons to create great mountain ranges and impossible peaks, Christ’s sacrifice and rebirth inspires charities, organizations, and groups that revive neighborhoods and nations.

But you must see that, although majestic and beautiful as that may be, that’s just the tip of the mountaintop peaking through the dim fog.  Beneath all the truths laid out before you, there is a deeper and more foundational truth.  What our glorious God planned from the foundations of the world is fulfilled in the sacrifice and resurrection of his Blessed Son.  What was cast down is raised up, what had become old is made new, and all things are restored to integrity through Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Mettle Maker #398 and Holy Communion for 3/24/24

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Mettle Maker #398

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 Self-Defense: The Hook Mettle Drill. In Heritage Self-Defense we learn martial sequences called mettle drills. They’re rather like the kata or forms that are seen in traditional martial arts, except they’re more like flow drills, and they’re usually done with a partner. Here is the blue bandana mettle drill known as…

The Hook Mettle Drill

1. Scarf Hold (he crams face)

2. Leg-only Top Wrist Lock (he tries to roll)

3. Chest Pressure (keeps rolling, you roll over)

4. Top Wrist Lock (he uses catch grip, you apply elbow to clavicle)

5. Double Wrist Lock (he grabs pants)

6. Short Arm Scissors (he doesn’t tap)

7. Shark Fin (he doesn’t tap)

8. Figure -4 Neck Breaker (he doesn’t tap)

9. Arm Bar (he doesn’t tap)

10. Short Arm Scissors (end of drill)

Do you know all of these moves and counters? Sounds like you could stand to take a martial arts class. And, as luck would have it, we offer a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program! Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Shoulders, knees, and lower back are the three most common trouble spots for aches and pains. When injured or in pain, always seek the advice of a qualified health professional. But if you’re just starting to get a twinge, and you’d like to reign it in before it gets out of hand, check out the home remedy exercises in the the video on the left. Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: How do you age tracks and sign? A video will be released on the YouTube channel on Monday at 5 PM. But the reality is, this isn’t something you can learn particularly well from a blog post or a video.

The best thing you can do for yourself is actually go out there and put your eyeballs on some tracks and sign. Make some tracks, and follow them home. Maybe that’s later the same day, the next day, or a couple of days later. How have they changed? How do rain, sun, and wind change the game?

You don’t need to be in an undeveloped area – you can practice in the heart of the city or out in the suburban wilds. Just make some tracks and snap some twigs in your back yard, in a turfed median strip, or in a corner of the local park where nobody walks. Check on them a couple of times a day for a week or so and see how they change.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Palm Sunday, 3/24/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Mk 11:1-10, Is 50:4-7, Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24, Phil 2:6-11, Mk 14:1—15:47

 

Mark 11:1-10 (World English Bible, Catholic Edition)

 

1 When they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage† and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey§ tied, on which no one has sat. Untie him and bring him. 3  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.”

4 They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street, and they untied him. 5 Some of those who stood there asked them, “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?” 6 They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go.

7 They brought the young donkey to Jesus and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. 8 Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 Those who went in front and those who followed cried out, “Hosanna!‡ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!* 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

  

During the procession of the palms today, we read the story of Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem as related in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus gives the disciples instructions as to how they will find a young donkey for him to ride into the city, and the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 is fulfilled: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Brothers and sisters, our Savior Jesus Christ went to some lengths to ensure that this prophecy was fulfilled for us.  This Palm Sunday, let’s give him a moment to meditate upon this.   

According to St. Ambrose, the donkey “on which no one has sat” is a reference to Gentiles who have never been yoked to the God of Abraham.¹  Like the ass’s colt, they are literally outsiders.  The animal is in a village a short distance from Jerusalem, outside the gate, tethered in the street and awaiting the arrival of Jesus’ disciples to lead him into the city.  The Gentiles are outside the ethnic and religious circle of the Hebrews, outside the gate of salvation, and waiting to be led inside by the apostles.

Perhaps we might read this even more broadly than St. Ambrose suggests, and allow the young donkey to stand in for all of us.  Aren’t we all standing alone and unguarded in the open street?  Are we not surrounded on every side by the distracting hubbub of everyday life, by jobs, bills, broken down cars, homework, and chores?  Like the little donkey, don’t we watch the traffic passing by – the endless parade of YouTube videos, cable television, reality shows, and podcasts?  Doesn’t an endless parade of disordered ideas, bizarre beliefs, chaotic attitudes, and misleading perceptions march by us all day long?  At least the donkey watched an actual parade of people go by – merchants and vendors, cops and criminals, priests, politicians, and paupers, the good the bad and the ugly.  At least the donkey looked at real people and events rather than fake news and screens.  At least the donkey observed the real world rather than a virtual one.  Regardless, here we stand, very much like that donkey, tethered in the open street, ripe for the taking.  Will we be led astray by the culture?  Or will we be taken up by the disciples of Jesus?

The Gospel says, “They brought the young donkey to Jesus and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it.”  Remember now, the passage says this is a donkey upon whom no one has sat.  This is a wild donkey.  And this donkey calmly submits.  Are we going to submit, or are we going to resist?  Are we going to tame our wild nature and put on the baptismal garments?  Are we going to allow ourselves to be draped in the garments of baptism and wrapped up in the Gospel?  Or are we going to buck and thrash, bray and bolt?

 This world, if we allow it to, will leave us tethered by the cords of sin and death, alone in the street and at the mercy of the crowd.  Let us pray that we can be docile and led to Jesus.  For his yoke is easy and his burden is light, and we will be led to salvation.

 

 

§  Some translations read “colt”

† 11:1 TR & NU read “Bethphage” instead of “Bethsphage”

‡ 11:9 “Hosanna” means “save us” or “help us, we pray”

* 11:9 Psalms 118:25-26

¹ “Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Book IX, from Sundays and Festivals with the Fathers of the Church, D.G. Herbert, translator (1901) accessed at https://archive.org/details/sundaysandfestiv00hubeuoft/mode/2up

Seeds, Songs, and Signs: Mettle Maker #397 and Holy Communion for 3/17/24

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Mettle Maker #397

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 Self-Defense: What do nature appreciation skills have to do with self-defense? Your self-defense techniques are of zero value if you have no idea what’s going on in the world around you. Surprise is the evildoer’s best and most effective tactic. How can you defend yourself if you’re always wandering around unaware?

Last week I put up a bird call video on YouTube (see right).  It has one lousy view. I'm pretty sure people think, "Bird calls?  So lame!" But paying attention to the world around you is a habit, a skill, and a healthy way of life in more ways than one. Learning some bird calls is a great way to start listening.

All day long people hear-hear-hear but never listen. Imagine if all day, every day, you listened to no one.  You ignored your coworkers, paid no attention to your family, and pretended as though your neighbors didn't exist. How strong would your relationships be? How healthy would you be?  How happy?  How well-liked?

The birds are singing to you, the trees are waving to you, the winds are caressing you, and the stream is calling you to come and play. Don’t be a callous outcast, a hard-hearted loner, a self-absorbed recluse. Be a part of the community of all living things.  Join into relationship with the universe and seek wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. 

Interested in a 100% free mind-body-spirit martial arts program? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: What’s the perfect set/rep scheme for weightlifting? This is one of the secrets of the old-timers, and modern science is increasingly aligning with this, and other aspects, of old-school training. Before I give you the answer, let’s look at what "old-school" means in terms of weightlifting?

1. Reduced intensity. No training to failure (stop on the rep before failure). You're training with too much intensity if you need rest days and/or split days like Chest Day, Leg Day, etc, if you have to grunt or yell to get through a set, if you get really sore after training sessions, if you need ice or Advil.

2. Time under tension matters. Slow the pace of your lifts such that you push fast and return slow. To be more clear, the concentric phase is the pushing part of the movement during which the muscle shortens. The eccentric phase is return of the weight back to starting position, during which the muscle is generally lengthened. The isometric phases are points where the load is held stationary between the transitions from concentric to eccentric, or from eccentric to concentric. Old-school thought was approximately a 1-sec concentric phase, a ..5-sec. isometric phase, a 3-sec eccentric phase, and a .5-sec isometric phase for a 5-second rep.

3. Train your whole body every time you train. See #1 above. Entire sessions on a single zone or body part always results in a level of intensity that’s not old-school.

4. No junk volume. Be stingy with exercises and reps - less is more. Only 1 exercise per body part and about 7 exercises per session.

5. Don’t pick it up if you can’t put it down. No old-timer ever dropped a weight on purpose. You’re cheating yourself out of the eccentric phase of the exercise!

What’s the perfect set/rep scheme? Well, you can build muscle volume and strength with almost any scheme, from one set of 25 to 3 sets of 3. The problem is that the lower the reps the higher the weight, and the more likely the injury. And the higher the reps, the higher the wear and tear on the joints and harder it gets to keep the intensity in the sweet spot. The ideal set/rep scheme — the one that sits at the intersection of results, ease of use, and results — seems to be 3 sets of 12 reps with at the old-school cadence of 4 - 6 seconds per rep as outlined above (1 second up and 3 to 4 seconds down). Essentially, each set of 12 must take a minimum of 48 seconds to complete, and the 12th rep should be 1 rep short of failure.

Weight is less important than pace. Adjust weight on sets 2 and 3 to get the 48-60 second pace and the 1 rep short of failure just right. The slower you go, the harder an exercise gets, and the less volume you can perform in the allotted training time. Do the math. This means you’ll experience less wear and tear because there’s less volume, less risk of injury because of lower weight and increased control, and more strength because the exercise is more difficult (the muscle is under stress for a longer period).

Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: How do you age tracks and sign? A video will be released on the YouTube channel on Monday at 5 PM. But the reality is, this isn’t something you can learn particularly well from a blog post or a video.

The best thing you can do for yourself is actually go out there and put your eyeballs on some tracks and sign. Make some tracks, and follow them home. Maybe that’s later the same day, the next day, or a couple of days later. How have they changed? How do rain, sun, and wind change the game?

You don’t need to be in an undeveloped area – you can practice in the heart of the city or out in the suburban wilds. Just make some tracks and snap some twigs in your back yard, in a turfed median strip, or in a corner of the local park where nobody walks. Check on them a couple of times a day for a week or so and see how they change.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Fifth Sunday of Lent, 3/17/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Jer 31:31-34, Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15, Heb 5:7-9, Jn 12:20-33

 

John 12:20-33

 

Now there were certain Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. 21 Therefore, these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told Jesus.

23 Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24  Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25  He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. 26  If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

27  “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? But I came to this time for this cause. 28  Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

29 Therefore the multitude who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

30 Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes. 31  Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 But he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die.

 

 

Modern people, just like the Greeks in today’s Gospel reading, ask to see Jesus.  We Christians seek him all over the place.  We search for him in the Bible.  We look for him in the church or in the cathedral.  We look for him in the liturgy, in missionary work, in singing.  We cry out to him in prayer. Even atheists profess to seek him, claiming that if they could see God, they’d believe. 

The problem is, of course, that Jesus is not in any of those places.  He cannot be captured in the Bible or any other book.  He cannot be held prisoner in a church or a cathedral.  Jesus is not a genie that can be summoned by rubbing a magic lamp; and so Jesus cannot be conjured up by singing, or praying.

Jesus cannot be found in the places that people most often look because he’s not an inanimate object that can be found, nor is he stationary enough to be located and photographed.  No, the creator of the universe is not in the universe.  The speaker of the words in the Bible is not in the Bible any more than George Orwell can be found within the pages of his book Nineteen Eighty-Four.  As the anonymous author of Liber XXIV Philosophorum wrote, “God is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere."

So how can we find him and be with him?  In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus reveals the trailhead of the path.  He says, “Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  My friends, soon the Red Maple trees will drop their winged seeds.  They’ll be blowing and spinning by the millions, helicoptering far and wide, each one carrying within itself a mighty tree.  Inside the outer shell of the seed is tremendous potential, locked up and waiting to burst out.  And we are just the same.  We too must let go of our old selves and yield to our potential if we’re going to become something new and greater in and with Jesus.

  Jesus continues, “He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.” What does “loving this life” mean?  It means being selfish.  Loving ourselves and what we want more than we love others and what they need.  Seeking riches, success, fame, and power at the expense of others.  Obsessing about how we look rather than how we behave.  Focusing on our physical appearance, social standing, and outward virtue instead of on true intention.  Hoarding our time and attention away from obligations.  Trying to prove our courage, toughness, or skill instead putting our courage, toughness and skill to good use.  Averting our energy and attention from giving pleasure to others and directing it toward our own pleasures – the feel of fine clothing and sheets on our skin, delicious flavors on our tongues, delightful entertainment for our eyes, and so on. 

If we behave in this way, we are like seeds that hoard their potential, that never split, sprout and transform.  As the poet Tennyson said, “The shell must crack before the bird may fly.”

If you want to see God, this is the path. 

Mettle Maker #396 and Holy Communion for 3/10/24

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Mettle Maker #396

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 Self-Defense: Scarf Hold or Side Headlock? There is a great deal of confusion on this point, and I admit I’ve contributed to it over the years by using the terms interchangeably. A Scarf Hold goes around the neck and holds the head in place. A Side Headlock is a lock. It hurts. It can can be a submission. Look on the right. You will notice that Robert has his arm around David’s head, not his neck, and his forearm is lined up along his jaw. He has not, however, fully applied it. How can you tell? By his hand position. What to know the secret? I guess you’d better join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program!

Heritage Fitness: Slow down! The slower you go, the harder an exercise gets, and the less volume you can perform in the allotted training time. Do the math. This means you’ll experience less wear and tear because there’s less volume, less risk of injury because of increased control, and more strength because the exercise is more difficult (the muscle is under stress for a longer period). Want more old-school training tips, or a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Learning birds and their calls isn’t an esoteric specialty reserved for birdwatchers and conservationists. It does several important things to those who undertake it:

  • It builds the patience to watch and listen

  • Deepens the your visual and sonic landscape

  • Enriches your experience of nature

  • Increases your sense of belonging and participation in life

  • And it might save your life.

If you hear or see predatory birds, you know prey is nearby and you can hunt them too. If you learn to tell buzzards from eagles, you can find a carcass and, if necessary, salvage horns, hide, bones, teeth, and hooves for tools. You can follow herons to water., and so on. Learn some birds and their calls. You’ll be happier, have more fun outside, and be a more capable wilderness survivor. Click the photo above to see some of the bird observations and calls I’ve captured using Birdnet, a cell phone app provided courtesy of the Cornell Ornithology Lab.  Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Fourth Sunday of Lent, 3/10/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23, Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6, Eph 2:4-10, Jn 3:14-21

 

John 3:14-21

 

Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15  that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born§ Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17  For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18  He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19  This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. 20  For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

 

 

The serpent staff is one of the world's most archaic and enduring symbols, dating back at least 6,000 years and still used today.  In Greco-Roman myths, Greek gods Hermes and Asclepius, and the Roman god Mercury, carried them.  Sometimes the rod had two snakes, sometimes just one.  Nowadays we see these symbols on ambulances, emergency hospital signs, pharmacies, first aid kits, and so on.

For pagans, all power comes from nature.  To them, these serpent staffs were markers of authority that allowed magic power to be drawn from the wellspring of nature.  Even their gods derived their powers from nature.  Ba'al was the god of storms, Amon the god of the sun, Molech the fiery god of sacrifice, and so on.  But for the Hebrews, all power comes from God, who created nature.  There is no magic beyond or above God.

So in today’s Gospel reading, when Jesus referenced Moses and the serpent on a pole which the Hebrews called Nehushtan, Nicodemus knew the story. 

 

8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9)

 

Poor Nicodemus.  Certainly, he saw the resemblance between the Hebrew Nehushtan and the serpent rods of their neighboring cultures.  And of course he knew that their Hebrew version was something entirely new and improved.  But he could not have fully grasped the deep analogy Jesus was speaking to him.  We can, because we can read Jesus' words by the light of two thousand years of history and Christian teaching.  We can see the progression.

Pagans believed in many gods and magic serpent staffs.  But through Moses, God showed that there is no magic, only a deeper level of reality and relationship with him.  Nehushtan wasn’t mythical, make-believe, or magic in itself.  It was just an ordinary brass snake on a pole to remind them that if they turned to God in faith, as God commanded them, they wouldn’t die.  Nehushtan was just a sculpture, a focal point, a way of reminding the Hebrews to have faith in God’s healing power.  Nicodemus could’ve seen that.  He would’ve agreed that God, through Moses, clarified and corrected the pagan serpent pole motif, making it something entirely new.

What Nicodemus couldn’t see or know was that Jesus was going to take the symbol into himself and perfect it in the Cross.  Yes, Nehushtan stood for the power of faith.  But brass serpents don’t bleed.  Brass serpents don’t suffer.  And brass serpents are not the only Son of God. 

Like Nehushtan, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross doesn’t prevent us from experiencing the painful bites of life's hardships and sufferings.  But if we have faith in him, we can be protected not just from death by snakebite – but from the death itself – from the death that lasts forever.  And Jesus is not a solution for one people at one time in one place, a lesson to get the Hebrews through a test in the desert.  Jesus was going to be hoisted up on a cross for everyone to see so that they could all be healed by faith.¹

Poor confused, and yet blessed Nicodemus.  Imagine how he felt after the Passion and Resurrection, when he looked back on his conversation with Jesus and finally understood it fully.  And then imagine his joy when he realized that he had spoken with God’s only begotten son, come to earth in the flesh to be put on a cross and held aloft to save everyone, Jew and Gentile.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

  

¹ Note also that Hebrew letters are also numbers, which means that all Hebrew words have numerical values.  Very strikingly, the words "serpent" (נחש) and "Messiah" (משיח) both have a numerical value of 358.


*2:17 Psalms 69:9  

Mettle Maker #395 and Holy Communion for 3/3/24

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Mettle Maker #395

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 Self-Defense: The Top Saddle escape series is complete! Do you have more than one method for escaping Top Saddle a.k.a. “mount?” You better! The most recent video is up (see right) and here are all the links:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/y5WJHn3whIk

Part 2: https://youtu.be/sHDr9n-hRKQ

Part 3: https://youtu.be/Gv6V2P7Rf_4

Part 4: https://youtu.be/zgYAzNPKUx8

Part 5: https://youtu.be/NF1Ayy35hZ0


But don’t just watch them — train them!

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

Heritage Fitness: Whole-body exercise par excellence: Bear Walks! The humble Bear Walk — simple, no equipment needed, as old as time — what’s not to love?

  1. Works the entire body in unison

  2. Requires unified coordination

  3. Aerobically demanding

At least once per month, add a hundred yards of Bear Walks to a training session. Need a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

(Photo taken from Weapons and Implements of Savage Races (Australasia, Oceania, and Africa) by Montague, Leopold A. D (London, The Bazaar, Exchange & Mart" Office 1921)

Heritage 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. Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Third Sunday of Lent, 3/3/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Ex 20:1-17, Ps19:8, 9, 10, 11, 1 Cor 1:22-25, Jn 2:13-25

 

John 2:13-25

 

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 15 He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. 16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”*

18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. 24 But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone, 25 and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.

 

 

Bible stories are very sparing with their words.  They expect us to fill in the blanks.  To have a sense of what is really happening in the cleansing of the temple, I want you to imagine going down to the local flea market, turning over the vendor’s tables, and ordering them all out.  What do you suppose would happen?  Would they all go?  Of course not.  A half dozen, belligerent and angry vendors would throw you out on your ear.  Some of them might even jab a pistol in your face.

Keeping in mind that people in Jesus’ time were far less soft and tame than modern folks, you can imagine that this event sparked far more than just spirited debate.  Jesus really started something here, an altercation bordering on a riot, so serious that the Gospel says they challenged him to produce a sign to justify his actions.  The situation was so serious that it was going to take a miracle to calm it down.  Based on his reply, they may even said something like, “Look here Jesus, you better give us a sign from heaven or we’re going to kill you.”  That would explain why he responds, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  It’s as if he’s saying, “Go ahead and kill me, and I’ll show you what happens.”

What point could Jesus find so vitally important that he’d brandish a whip or a coil of rope and start an aggressive confrontation?  St. Paul knew what it was, and he expresses his insight in our epistle reading today.  He says, “For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:22-24).  Let’s not read this narrowly, as if it applies Jews and Greeks.  Jew and Greek represent ways of thinking, not ethnic groups.

Many people have a transactional way of thinking that resembles the Jews of Jesus’ day.  For them, relationship with God is a sacrifice-reward, pray-miracle kind of give-and-take.  This type of outlook is as common today as then.  It’s the basis of the so-called “prosperity gospel” in which people believe they can pray their way to material wealth or buy their way into heaven. And, on the other hand, there are always going to be folks who think the Greek way – those who want God’s ways to be man’s ways.  They want God to serve man rather than the reverse.  They demand logic, rationality, and common sense.  They deny God on scientific grounds, because of philosophical the Problem of Evil, or because miracles are silly.

But Jesus literally “turns the tables” on both of those viewpoints.  We can’t buy our way into the Kingdom of God with sacrifices, tithes, donations, prayers, or good works.  Nor can we think our way in, with logic, philosophy, or common sense.  Jesus chases out all of the old ideas about sacrificing oxen, sheep, and doves, and overturns the modern idols of rationalism and the worship of science.

Jesus bursts onto the scene and causes a huge uproar.  He goes to the brink of violence to proclaim something of vital importance – the thing nobody wants to hear – a stumbling block for all.  That the Son of God has come to earth to save us from sin and death.  That he died on a cross and rose from the dead.  And the only way the Kingdom of God is through him.

*2:17 Psalms 69:9  

Saddles, Shanties, and Starting Your Day: Mettle Maker #394 and Holy Communion for 2/25/24

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Mettle Maker #394

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 Self-Defense: The Top Saddle escape series continues! Do you have more than one method for escaping Top Saddle a.k.a. “mount?” You can’t make your attacker behave the way you’d prefer. Some guys ride high, some low, some posture up and strike, some choke, etc. So you need to have several methods that counter the specifics of how they’re riding. Watch the video above, and follow the whole series — when we’re done, there will be 10 techniques and 5 videos in all. But don’t just watch them — train them!

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

Heritage Fitness: Do you eat breakfast? What’s the goal? If you’re trying to watch your weight, the goal should be eat just enough nutritious food at breakfast to forestall hunger for 4 hours. 10 grams of fat are required to achieve that. Therefore, your breakfast must contain 10 to 12 grams of fat and be below the target calories. If your breakfast does not contain 10 grams of fat, you will be hungry again very quickly and be more likely to cheat on your diet plan. Here are some breakfast ideas with 10 grams of fat:

• One egg (boiled, poached, or cooked in a non-stick pan with cooking spray) and two slices of thin, pre-cooked bacon = 10 – 12 grams of fat.

• One scrambled egg with 2 tbsp of grated cheese = 10 grams of fat.

• A slice of whole wheat toast with 1 tbsp of butter or peanut butter = 10 grams of fat.

• I slice of whole wheat toast with ½ smashed avocado, a dollop of sour cream, and a splash of salsa = 10 grams of fat.

• ½ cup oatmeal with 1 tbsp of butter, 2 tbsp of raisins, and zero-calorie sweetener = 10 grams of fat.

Need a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Learn how to make a “bark shanty.” Check out this semi-permanent trapping shelter from Camp Life in the Woods by William Hamilton Gibson (1881) page 245. Sounds like a lot of work! But you be the judge. I’d much prefer a debris shelter. Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 of Lent, 2/25/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19, Rom 8:31b-34, Mk 9:2-10

 

Mark 9:2-10

 

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. 3 His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.

7 A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

8 Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Jesus only.

9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.

 

 Last week, we marveled at the very strange way in which Jesus retells the flood story from the book of Genesis by sending a new flood – a flood of Baptismal waters – that cleanses not by death and destruction, but rather by life and resurrection.  We saw how the first flood was sealed by a covenant rainbow, but the second was bound up in the promise of the cross.

The Gospels are filled with reverberations, recapitulations, and repeating patterns like this.  They echo and flow through the stories.  Like ripples in pond that reflect when they hit the rocky shore, Jesus steps into certain themes, and retells them.  Some he restates with words, others he reiterates with his actions, and some he fulfills in his person.

Today we hear, in our Old Testament reading, the story of Abraham offering the sacrifice of his son Isaac.  Immediately we see how Jesus steps into and retells this story in an impossible way.  Jesus is one with the God the Father, so he is Abraham.  Jesus is the Father’s only Son, so he is Isaac.  Jesus is the True Sacrifice, so he is the ram caught in the thicket, complete with the crown of thorns.  He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” who will “give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.” (Rev 21:6).

And in our Gospel reading we see the glory that allows Jesus to say, do, and be capable of retelling and fulfilling these stories.  Jesus is a new Moses, glowing with the new way of seeing the law.  Jesus is a new Elijah who, like Elijah, knows the date of his death and will ascend into heaven.  But the fire of Christ will not come down like the fire that Eljah commanded to destroy his enemies in 2 Kings 1:10.  Jesus’ Pentecostal fire will come down to empower his disciples until he comes again.

The Old Testament stories are good.  But Jesus’ makes them great, relating them at a much higher, powerful, and more beautiful pitch.  Being made in God’s image, and following in the footsteps of Jesus, we can do what Jesus does in our own small way.  We too, in our human capacity, can step into our stories and live out their greater possibilities.  Lent is a time for reflection.  It’s the perfect time look at the positive stories in our lives, engage with them, and consider how we might live them in even greater truth and sincerity. 

Do you have a good marriage?  How about becoming such a great wife or husband that the fullest promise of your union might be realized, transforming it into an amazing and eternal love story? 

Are you a reliable worker with a steady paycheck?  Good.  But what if you went above and beyond?  Could you transform yourself into a dedicated worker with a remarkable and satisfying career? 

Do you have a few friends to spend time with?  That’s terrific.  But what if you became brothers and sisters with them?  What if you brought the lost sheep to the waters of baptism? 

Do you patiently and politely get along with your family members, neighbors, or coworkers?  Good.  But how might you step into those relationships and make them shine with glory like the sun?

Get Out, Flip Over, and Twitch-up: Mettle Maker #393 and Holy Communion for 2/18/24

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Mettle Maker #393

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 Self-Defense: Do you have more than one method for escaping Top Saddle a.k.a. “mount?” You can’ make your attacker behave the way you’d prefer. Some guys ride high, some low, some posture up and strike, some choke, etc. So you need to have several methods that counter the specifics of how they’re riding. Watch the video above, and follow the whole series — when we’re done, there will be 10 techniques and 5 videos in all. But don’t just watch them — train them!

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

Heritage Fitness: Do you practice your proprioception and balance? Try Headstands. Proprioception is a fancy word for body awareness — specifically awareness of where your body is in space. Everybody has some degree of proprioception and balance. If not, you couldn’t walk around without falling down or pickup up a mug and take a sip of coffee. But if you want to be good at any sport, you’re going to need more than a merely functional level of proprioception and balance. And here’s another thing — proprioception and balance both fade with age. One of the ways I keep my proprioception and balance is by incorporating inversion work into my training, namely Headstands and Handstands. Start with Headstands. Work your way up until you can hold one for a full minute, and then do that every other day to build and maintain your proprioception and balance skills.

Need a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Learn how to make a “twitch-up.” One of the simplest survival traps you could ever learn to make is a “twitch-up.” See photo and details on the right, courtesy of Camp Life in the Woods by William Hamilton Gibson (1881) page 45. It’s possible that there’s a trap known to man that isn’t in his book, but I have no idea what it might be!

Note that when Gibson says, “arch” he means the bent sapling.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 First Sunday of Lent, 2/18/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Gn 9:8-15, Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 1 Pt 3:18-22, Mt 4:4b, Mk 1:12-15

 

Mark 1:12-15

 

Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving him.

14 Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”

 

The symbols, ironies, and nuggets of wisdom in old myths and folktales are endlessly fascinating.  I always liked the story of King Midas who, granted a wish by the Greek god Dionysus, asks for his touch to turn anything into gold.  He becomes incredibly wealthy and loves his gift – until he accidentally touches his beloved daughter and kills her, and then starves to death because every morsel and sip turns to gold as soon as it touches his tongue. 

A fun story isn’t it?  Clever, entertaining, and with a great moral lesson about the dangers of greed.  At first glance, the story of Noah and the flood is another mythological tale, containing many moral lessons.  But taken in the greater context, and looked at through the lens of the Gospel, it’s much, much more than that.  Make no mistake: what we have in our readings today is of an entirely different character than a mere myth.  Brothers and sisters, this is no fairy tale.

In Noah’s story, water falls for 40 days and then recedes to reveal the dry land.  In the Gospel story from Mark, Christ the living water comes in baptism and then recedes for forty days into the desert, revealing the kingdom of God which Jesus proclaims is at hand.  It’s the opposite. 

In Genesis, we get a sign in the sky – a rainbow – that appears after the flood.  In the Gospel, a sign in the sky – a dove – comes before the flood of baptism.  The rainbow reveals a truth about the material world, namely that God will never again destroy it by water.  The dove, on the other hand, reveals a truth about the spiritual world – that God has sent his son to earth to save us.  Again, the Gospel story is the opposite.

In the flood story, God sent torrential rains to destroy the earth.  But in the Gospel. God sends us the waters of baptism to heal the earth and save us in heart, mind, and soul.  Again, we have the opposite. 

This is not a witty fable, a clever folktale, or an educational myth.  No, what we have here is something far more powerful, and something that is unique in recorded history.  It’s myth that is real.  The story of Noah might be mythological, but Jesus’ story is completely true.  Think about that.  Really stay with this, confront it, and experience it: Jesus came to earth and, through an outpouring of deeds, teachings, and words, lived out loud an undoing of the flood. 

Let this shock us out of our complacency.  Let it shake us up!  Let it rattle us!  Jesus dips his hand into an historical myth, pulls it into the present, and makes it real in his person.  How can we not stare and the page in complete wonder and then go reeling into the desert to follow in his footsteps this Lent.

 

Rock, Paper, Wrestler, Boxer: Mettle Maker #392 and Holy Communion for 2/11/24

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Mettle Maker #392

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.”

This is pretty close to my training allocation at present. What’s yours, and why?

Heritage Self-Defense: What’s your training time allocation? The amount of time you spend training on each of the various physical aspects of self-defense should be proportional to their relative effectiveness. So let’s stack up some data:

  • 9 of 10 times, wrestler beats boxer. Don’t believe me? Read this great article by Mark Hatmaker.

  • Wrestlers more easily adapt to weight differences. My comparative analysis of wrestling and boxing weight classes indicates that the average wrestling weight class is 9.5 pounds vs. 7.5 for boxing. Although counterintuitive, wrestling would therefore appear to be less sensitive to size and weight disparities — and that’s a great benefit in self-defense.

  • Wrestling has produced more UFC champions than any other fighting discipline. Yes, even more than BJJ. If you compare grapplers vs. strikers, grapplers have held aloft far more UFC championship belts than strikers — by a 2-to-1 margin.

  • Grappling skills take longer to instill than striking skills, so you better get started. Almost any untrained adult male can knock you out with a punch. But the same man would have a hard time figuring out how wrestle someone into to pin or tap. It takes just months to become a competent striker, but it takes years for a boxer to become a competent wrestler. There’s never been a walk-on wrestler who was a true competitor. But examples of natural born brawlers and pro boxers who didn’t start until their 20s abound (Marciano, Norton, Willard, Firpo, etc.). Many wrestlers have become devastating strikers — Urijah Faber, Frankie Edgar, Cain Velasquez, Dan Henderson, Johny Hendricks, etc. but the reverse is rare. The only example of a striker who became a formidable grappler who comes to mind is Georges St-Pierre.

  • Wrestling builds greater and more complete strength and endurance than striking. I know this is contentious, and the debate rages on, but in my opinion wrestling is far more physically demanding and fitness rewarding than boxing. No boxing or striking coach ever got me close to throwing up. But a wrestling coach will hand you a bucket every time you show up (and the next day you will realize you have muscles and tendons you never knew you had). Strikers hit stuff. Wrestlers and grapplers lift, pull, explode, bridge, twist, squeeze, lug, spin, slam, and what-all.

  • Weapons are fun and effective, but…are increasingly banned from public spaces. Unless you’re on a camping trip or you’ve survived TEOTWAKI, your self-defense training time might be better spent on empty hand techniques.

  • American Rough and Tumble is the perfect mix of all these elements. It’s the most brutal and effective fighting art on the planet (this article puts Rough and Tumble at #3 behind Marine Corp LINE and IDF Krav Maga, but only because they are used in war). But don’t forget, LINE and Krav Maga don’t incorporate prevention, observation, awareness, and spiritual development — they key to avoiding as much trouble as possible.

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

Heritage Fitness: Are you using light dumbbells? I know I’ve talked about these before, but you need to develop some fitness intelligence about these things before you’re 50+ when you start to get tendonitis — everywhere. That’s what happens, by the way, when you hit your 50s. But light dumbbells are great for maintaining tendon health, and can help protect your shoulders and other joints. Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Refresh your first aid skills. I’m not a doctor, nurse, EMT or first responder. You need to read and study a good first aid manual, and refresh yourself often. The American Red Cross First Aid Manual is available free online (click this link to view, print, or save on your computer). And I recommend taking a first aid course as soon as you are able as well. In the meantime, here are the first aid bullet points when someone is hurt.

* Stay calm. You’re no good if you’re flustered.

* Assess danger. Ensure the area is safe for yourself and the injured person.

* Check for a response. Ask his or her name. Squeeze hands and shoulders.

* If non-responsive, call 9-1-1 if you can.

* Place victim on his or her side in Recovery Position, upper leg bent, lower leg straight (see picture below).

* Remember ABC -- Airway, Breathing and Circulation -- in that order.

* Establish open airways. Make sure nothing is stopping up nose or mouth. If so, clear them.

* Check breathing. Look and listen for 10 seconds. Administer the Heimlich maneuver to a choking adult. If an infant or toddler is choking, place them face down on a decline with head lower than feet and carefully pat them on the back.

* If person is not choking but breathing is still not normal, start CPR if you know how. If you don’t, learn.

* If breathing is OK, check for bleeding. Apply direct pressure to open wounds.

* Assess for signs of shock: weakness, rapid heart rate, fast breathing, sweating, and confusion. If you believe the person is going into shock, cover them with whatever you have to get them warm, and elevate feet about 12 inches. Keep them talking if they are conscious. Speak soothingly and keep them calm.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2/11/24 – Father Mitch

Readings: Lv 13:1-2, 44-46, Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11, 1 Cor 10:31—11:1, Mk 1:40-45

 

Mark 1:40-45

 

A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”

41 Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, “I want to. Be made clean.” 42 When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was made clean. 43 He strictly warned him and immediately sent him out, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

45 But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places. People came to him from everywhere.

 

When we are physically unwell, we go to the doctor.  The doctor gives us a treatment plan appropriate to the ailment.  That treatment plan may involve direct interventions, such as physical therapy, medication, surgery, and so on.  But often the doctor may direct us to avoid, alter, or stop certain behaviors that affect our health.  He may counsel us about smoking cessation, lack of exercise, overeating, overindulgence in alcohol, and so forth.  In other words, the doctor will sometimes politely point out that we are more than a little responsible for our own condition.

Being sick can be something that just happens to us, like a piano falling on our heads from a second story window.  But often we stand under the piano and swing it back and forth, confident that the rope will hold, and then wonder why we get crushed.

We can’t tempt fate and then blame something outside ourselves for our condition.  Nor can we just sit there and wait to get well.  We have to engage in our health journey.  Once we've admitted we're sick, we go to the doctor and ask for help.  Then we take the remedy and change the negative behaviors that contributed to getting sick in the first place.

Let us consider leprosy as a metaphor for a spiritual ailment.  Like the leper in our Old Testament reading, we should first be willing to admit we’re spiritually sick, and willing also to set ourselves apart so that we don’t infect others with our disordered attitudes, ideas, and behaviors.  But that will only get us so far.  Next we have to be like the leper in our Gospel reading.  We must to go to Jesus and beg for help.  Then we must try to be receptive to what he says and change our behaviors – we need to try, as hard as we can, to avoid, alter, or stop the negative behaviors that adversely affect our spiritual health.

Once we’ve gotten as healthy as we can get, we should endeavor to be nurses in God’s church, which is a hospital for sinners.  As St. Paul said, we need to be good caregivers, doing “everything for the glory of God,” not seeking our own benefit “but that of the many, that they may be saved.” (1 Cor 10:31 – 11:1).

 

Escapes, Bearhug Squats, Sensory Overload, and Patience: Mettle Maker #391 and Holy Communion for 2/4/24

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Mettle Maker #391

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 Self-Defense: What’s your “get off the bottom” IQ? Self-defense doesn’t get much worse than it is when your attacker is in Top Saddle (a.k.a. “the Mount”). How many methods do you have to get out? One? Two? Three? Four or more? Well, if you’re serious about self-defense, I suggest having three — one for when the ride is low (near your hips), one when it’s a tad higher (up near your lower ribs), and one to use when his knees have reached your armpits (as bad as it gets!). And you should also have a few of variants of each that take into account what your attacker is up to — wrestling, restraining, or striking. Get your techniques together, put them into a logical, working chain, and drill them until the cows come home. Watch this space — a series of YouTube videos covering this topic is on the way!

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

Bearhug Squats

Heritage Fitness: Are you doing your Bearhug Squats? The science is in — sandbag training works. Pick a weight appropriate to your size and fitness level. Most folks age 18 - 50 years of age of intermediate fitness level can manage about a third of their body weight at first. If you train old-school (without pain meds, creatine, and steroids, and with your goal being health, longevity, and functional fitness), put your arms around the bag, hug it to your chest, and start with 4 sets of 6 or maybe 3 sets of 8. Cap your total reps to around 25, and never push to the last rep. Stop at the next-to-last rep. Do them a couple of times a week. When you can get 2 sets of 12, add a little weight and start your progression over. Voila! If you don’t like and benefit from the Bear Hug Squat, I’ll eat my hat.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? Or maybe a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Some thoughts on sensory input. The human, having changed so little in the last hundred thousand years or so, is not accustomed to living in cities filled with so much input – industrial noise, cars, airplanes, and so forth – much less the modern distractions of video games, video streaming services, 24-hour news, cell phones, and so on. 

Consider the consequences of the change in our sensory input over what it once was. If you have not read John Ruskin’s The Opening of the Crystal Palace (1854) here is an excerpt with which you might begin such a consideration: 

“But it is one of the strange characters of the human mind, necessary indeed to its peace, but infinitely destructive of its power, that we never thoroughly feel the evils which are not actually set before our eyes. If, suddenly, in the midst of the enjoyments of the palate and lightnesses of heart of a London dinner-party, the walls of the chamber were parted, and through their gap, the nearest human beings who were famishing, and in misery, were borne into the midst of the company — feasting and fancy-free — if, pale with sickness, horrible in destitution, broken by despair, body by body, they were laid upon the soft carpet, one beside the chair of every guest, would only the crumbs of the dainties be cast to them — would only a passing glance, a passing thought be vouchsafed to them? Yet the actual facts, the real relations of each Dives and Lazarus, are not altered by the intervention of the house wall between the table and the sick-bed — by the few feet of ground (how few!) which are indeed all that separate the merriment from the misery.”

We are the same people we once were, evolved to live and respond to stimulus.  Our ancestors lived ten or more to a hut, responding to the needs of kin.  One of my four children lives in Japan, one in a different city, and other two across town.  A few hundred years ago, people of our station would’ve certainly lived in the same village, perhaps in the same home. Further examples of the differences in modern vs. ancient sensory input abound.

Is it possible that we’re so maladapted to the world we’ve created that we are effectively broken as a species? I’ll leave that to greater minds. At the every least, we should attempt to expose ourselves to the natural world and to stimuli asscicated with humanity — our kin, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2/4/24 – Father Mitch

 Readings: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7, Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23, Mk 1:29-39

 

Mark 1:29-39

 

Immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 He came and took her by the hand and raised her up. The fever left her immediately,† and she served them.

32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by demons. 33 All the city was gathered together at the door. 34 He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. He didn’t allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.

35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there. 36 Simon and those who were with him searched for him. 37 They found him and told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

38 He said to them, “Let’s go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason.” 39 He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.

 

 

Taken together, our readings today are a meditation on patience. The word “patience” comes from the Latin patior, which means to suffer, endure, tolerate, or put up with something.

Job is the Old Testament paradigm of patience.  Repeated trials and tribulations assail and test him, and yet he is patient.  Can he rely upon his wife for support?  No. She encourages him to be impatient! She says to him, “Do you still maintain your integrity? Curse God, and die.”  But would impatience do Job any good at all? 

First let’s inquire as to what impatience is.  When you boil it down, isn’t it just refusing to tolerate difficulties, inconveniences, and problems?  Perhaps our focus has been interrupted, our precious plans have been disrupted, or our desires have been obstructed.  Isn’t impatience just a childish tantrum because things aren’t going our way?  Like the character Veruca Salt from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, we want it now.  But does all our impotent impatience solve anything?  Does it influence God’s plan in any way at all?  Does it do anything other than let off a little steam?  Of course not.  Impatience is an impotent emotion that not only screws up our faces, makes us say rude things, and contorts our spirit.  Impatience profits no one.

Look at old Job.  Despite his wife’s ugly remarks, and despite the fact that his three best friends tell him that he’s to blame for his own torment, he is patient.  He never curses God or renounces his faith.  And as a result, when all is said and done, God restores Job to health and multiplies his blessings two-fold. 

In our reading from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul explains how he is patient with his listeners and careful in tailoring his message to suit their needs rather than his own.  St. Paul must’ve been almost constantly tempted toward impatience.  Imagine how many times he was repeatedly asked the same tireless questions by members of the young church.  Imagine how many times he was harassed by soldiers, pestered by rabbis, confronted by scribes and Pharisees.  But being wise, he knew that impatience wins no one over – only patience and humility can do that.  By making himself small rather than proud, and by submitting himself to the Lord and his Gospel message, St. Paul, like Job, receives for his investment far more than he invests.

And finally we see in our Gospel reading from Mark the incredible patience of Jesus.  The essence of his personal character is patience.  Jesus is patient with those who persecute him, patient in his dealings with the scribes and the Pharisees, patient with sinners, patient with the suffering multitudes who followed him everywhere begging to be healed, and even patient with his apostles who are confused about his teachings, sell him for silver, and deny him three times.  He is patient even unto the cross! 

I have often heard the old adage, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”  I would venture to say that, “Patience is next to godliness” might be the better refrain.  The more patient we become, the closer we get to the Lord. 

—————————————————————

†1:31 NU omits “immediately”.

Mettle Maker #390 and Holy Communion for 1/28/24

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Mettle Maker #390

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 Self-Defense: What’s your “get off the bottom” IQ? Self-defense doesn’t get much worse than it is when your attacker is in Top Saddle (a.k.a. “the Mount”). How many methods do you have to get out? One? Two? Three? Four or more? Well, if you’re serious about self-defense, I suggest having three — one for when the ride is low (near your hips), one when it’s a tad higher (up near your lower ribs), and one to use when his knees have reached your armpits (as bad as it gets!). And you should also have a few of variants of each that take into account what your attacker is up to — wrestling, restraining, or striking. Get your techniques together, put them into a logical, working chain, and drill them until the cows come home. Watch this space — a series of YouTube videos covering this topic is on the way!

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

Heritage Fitness: Getting 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day? You should! I’m always looking to get 5 or more servings of fruits and veggies into my diet every day. The problem is, as I get older, raw veggies are increasingly hard to digest, and will give me heart burn. And, on top of that, my metabolism has slowed and I’ve had to to cut my caloric intake a bit. Here’s a great little low calorie delicious dessert that seems decadent but is actually super low calorie and full of fruits and veggies.

Cherries Waldorf

Somehow refreshing, satisfying, and filling, this dessert hits all of the buttons, even your satisfying your sweet tooth!

Ingredients:

1 small package Sugar Free Cherry or Raspberry Gelatin (.44 oz.)

1 cup of finely chopped celery

1 medium apple, cored and cut in small cubes

1 cup of grapes or pitted cherries, halved

Low-fat whipped cream (optional)


Make flavored gelatin per package directions and place in fridge to chill. Wait about 45 mins or until gelatin is partially thickened. Add celery, apples, and cherries/grapes. If the gelatin is too thick for the goodies to sink, push them down with the flat of a serving spoon. Serve with a dollop of whip cream. Makes 4 servings about 100 calories each.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? Or maybe a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Check out Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest — it’s my new favorite TV show! For the most part, television is a waste of time. I only watch TV when I’m too tired to do anything else, or if I want to entertain and/or educate myself while conditioning my shins or giving my wife a head or back rub. But there are a few TV shows that, in addition to being educational, are surpassingly beautiful and artistic. One of them is Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest. Survivorman Les Stroud gathers wild edibles and Chef Paul Rogalski prepares incredible culinary masterpieces around them. For me this is about as great as TV gets. Many episodes are available on YouTube — check out Episode 1 on the right.

Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!

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 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1/28/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Dt 18:15-20, Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9, 1 Cor 7:32-35, Mk 1:21-28

 

Mark 1:21-28 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 24 saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”

25 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”

26 The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” 28 The report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of Galilee and its surrounding area.

 

 

Forty years ago an old mentor of mine, Bob Burke, taught me something I’ve never forgotten.  He said, “Mitch, if you change someone’s perspective, you change how they think, act, feel, and believe.”  Bob was and is completely correct.  Remember that, brothers and sisters.  One more time: “If you change someone’s perspective, you change how they think, act, feel, and believe.”

Bob’s still around, by the way, north of 80 years old and long retired.  And if you called him up and asked him for business management advice, he would probably start with that nugget, specifically as it relates to negotiation.  Think about it: everything is a kind of negotiation.  Every sales transaction and every business deal is a negotiation.  One person, or one side, wants the other side to buy, sell, trade, agree and the other person or side doesn’t.  Fortunately, however, sides who are at cross purposes always agree more than they realize.  Typically, some circumstance has heightened tensions and/or shifted focus onto points of contention and disagreement.  The people at the table have lost sight of their shared goals and overlapping needs.  They have ceased to see the forest for the trees. 

What Jesus is doing in the synagogue in our reading today is causing a radical shift in perspective.  At that time, the method of teaching and preaching was to quote the law and prophets.  Everything was an appeal to what the God and his prophets said in the past.  Can you imagine how much people must’ve quoted scripture and argued about Judaism’s 613 laws?  But Jesus walks in and shifts everyone’s perspective.  He makes the written law relatable through fresh interpretations and moves discussion from the past into the present.  As Christians, this is normal for us.  Jesus’ perspective shift has become more or less permanent in us. We don’t know any different.  But at that time it was a bombshell.

And we must not take it for granted.  You see, every decision, from a corporate policy ruling all the way down to just an individual trying to decide on where to go for lunch, is a kind of negotiation.  Opposing viewpoints must be weighed and choices made.  Do we want to do business with an eye on profit, or on environmental sustainability?  Do I want to eat healthy, or do I want to pig out on the delicious, unhealthy choice?  How do we decide?  We can focus on shared goals.  We choose a lunch that’s healthy and delicious!  It’s possible to run a business that makes a profit and operates in a sustainable manner. 

And that’s what Jesus is doing with God’s message.  He says we can do both.  We can look to the laws and wisdom of the past and follow it, rely upon it, and appeal to it.  He does that often in the Gospels.  But he’s adding a new dimension.  Jesus is stepping into the synagogue and pointing to the transcendent truths above, within, and underlying the law.  He’s changing everyone’s perspective.  And, in doing so, he’s changing how they think, act, feel, and believe. 

Jesus’ new perspective chases away narrow-minded viewpoints, drives out pettiness, banishes the trivial and the insignificant, and reminds us of the ultimate goal. And it is so powerful that it can literally cast out demons!

Mettle Maker #389 and Holy Communion for 1/21/24

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Mettle Maker #389

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 Self-Defense: Work Hatmaker’s silver dollar test. Your weapon is no good if you can’t get it into play quickly with no telegraphing. Use Mark Hatmaker’s sliver dollar test and drill to get fast and test your speed. Works with any weapon! Put a silver dollar on the back of your hand at arm’s length. Now strike the target — heavy bag or war post — before the silver dollar touches the ground. So simple, and yet so effective.

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

Heritage Fitness and Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Fancy equipment? Who needs it! Too often we focus on the quality of our equipment. We don’t even consider doing an exercise routine, or going on a hiking, fishing, climbing, or camping trip until we have the perfect reel, pack, shoes, boat, or what-have-you.

Pollywogs and tater tots.

Take a look at the kinds of equipment people were using in the 19th and early 20th centuries (see gallery above/right). Check out especially the stalwart fellow with a skin covered canoe or coracle on his back while fishing. That guy really wants to go fish.

Maybe, if you’re obsessing about having perfect equipment, you really just don’t want to fish all that bad.

Do a little soul searching in that regard. Maybe there’s something that, in your heart of hearts, you really do want to do. Whatever that is, go out and do it.

Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? Or maybe a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for one of our free 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 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1/21/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Jon 3:1-5, 10, Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 1 Cor 7:29-31, Mk 1:14-20

 

Jonah 3:1-5

 

1 The LORD’s word came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.”

3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s word. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across. 4 Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”

5 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least. 6 The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; 8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”

10 God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.

 

Mark 1:14-20

 

14 Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”

16 Passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.”

18 Immediately they left their nets, and followed him.

19 Going on a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.

 

 

Life is like sailing the sea.  The storms of life arise quickly, the riptides are invisible, and the ocean depths hide monstrous beasts.  Like sunken treasure, there’s an outside chance you might get a promotion or win the lottery.  But for the most part, one minute everything is fine and the next minute your car breaks down, you get laid off, a friend passes away, or illness strikes.  There’s always something dangerous and unpredictable bubbling up from beneath the surface.

So when the Lord tells Jonah to go East and preach repentance to Nineveh, a massive city filled with the enemies of Israel, Jonah hops on a ship going in the opposite direction, West toward Tarshish.  No wonder.  Life is crazy and unpredictable enough without street preaching in strange city!  And when a storm threatens to capsize and destroy the boat and everyone on board, he hides below decks.  The crazier his life gets, the more Jonah retreats.  Isn’t this what people often do?  Avoid the real cause of our problems, ignore our faults and moral failures, and pretend everything is okay?  Don’t we often let others shoulder our responsibilities and steer the boat? 

But finally Jonah admits that his defiance of the Lord is the cause of the storm and encourages the boat’s sailors to throw him overboard, whereupon he is promptly consumed by a giant fish.  Again, this is precisely what people do.  We surrender to our faults, resign ourselves to our fates, and give up.  We say, “Oh well, I might as well just admit I’m an addict,” or “I guess I’m just destined to be unhappy,” or poor, or unfulfilled, or what-have-you.  We stop trying to change things and let ourselves be swallowed up. 

Finally Jonah repents and is vomited out on dry land.  He obeys the Lord, preaches to the people of Nineveh and they are saved through repentance.  Unfortunately, Jonah’s story ends ambiguously.  Because as soon as he starts to get on the right track, he heads for the wasteland of anger and bitterness.

But the apostles answer the Lord’s call.  They don’t go the opposite way.  If you’ve ever watched a documentary or a television show about fishermen, you understand the kind of strength and guts it takes to fish for a living.  Fishermen don’t scare easy.  They are accustomed to storms, danger, and misfortune.  So the apostles steer their own ship, and they don’t let anybody other than God navigate.  They understand that the world is unpredictable and scary and things are going to go wrong.  But they know that if seize control and listen to God, you have a navigator who will guide you to your ultimate destination! 

Nor do they go overboard and let themselves be swallowed up by their own faults and fears.  Once they sailed the literal sea and brought back actual fish for food and livelihood.  But now, guided by and obedient to the Lord, they go out into a chaotic world and, instead of fish, they reach down into the darkness and lift up sinners to God.

There are two ways to sail the seas of life.  You can, like Jonah, disregard your faults and let yourself be swallowed up by them.  You can hand off the rudder or your life to others and ignore God, be hardheaded, resentful, and bitter.  Or you can be like the apostles.  You can take charge of your existence, face your own faults and the challenges of life head on, and listen to God. 

Which is it going to be?

Mettle Maker #388 and Holy Communion

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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”.

Mettle Maker #387 and Holy Communion for the Epiphany of the Lord

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Mettle Maker #387

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.”

At Heritage Self-Defense on Tues and Thurs nights, I always write the constitutional of the night on the concrete floor of the picnic shelter.

Heritage Self-Defense: Build self-defense movements into your fitness. Here at Heritage Self-Defense, we build martial arts into our fitness routines. It just doesn’t make sense for martial artists to spend hours doing exercises that make you good at exercises instead of doing exercises that make you good at martial arts. If you don’t know what the picture on the right is all about, watch this video.

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

Heritage Fitness: My overnight oats breakfast recipe. I’m just not a believer in protein powders and supplements unless there is a physical deficiency for which a medical professional recommends them. The average person should be able to get what they need from eating healthy food. The old timers didn’t use supplements and their feats of strength — and their accomplishments! — were legendary. Toward that end, I came up with the following breakfast recipe for getting the protein, fat, carbs, and fiber necessary to start my day right. Note: always make sure your breakfast contains at least 10 grams of fat — the minimum to forestall hunger until lunch. For convenience, I make 5 days of this at a time so I can grab a tub and go.


Cinnamon Raisin Spice Overnight Oats

1/2 cup each of quick oats, whole milk, and cottage cheese

2 tbsp of raisins

1 tsp of sugar

1/4 tsp of apple pie spice


Put oats and milk in a 1 cup container with a tight-fitting lid. Add raisins, spices, and sugar and stir. Place cottage cheese on top. Close container and store in the fridge. If regular old quick oats, whole milk from a cow, and whole fat cottage cheese freak you out, or if 16 calories of white sugar terrify you, you might have a complex. This is healthy and nutritious breakfast. Protein 24 gms, carbs 55, fat 12, fiber 5, calories 412


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!

Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Learning natural navigation.

My suggestion is to use GPS only when taking long trips by car, or when you have to go somewhere on short notice without time to prepare. The rest of the time, practice navigating by engaging with the environment. It’s not easy. But the same types of indicators – sights, sounds, and so on – that you use to determine your position inside your home or workplace can be used to orient in your neighborhood, city, or state. The trick is to expand your spatial awareness to include the information necessary to orient outdoors.

Consider doing this as regularly as possible. Whenever you go for a walk in a new area of your neighborhood, or in an unexplored area of a local park, etc. By all means, make sure to have your cell phone in your pocket in case you get lost. And use your head – don’t put yourself in a position where you could easily wander into a risky part of town or into dangerous territory of some kind!

As you walk, just be in time and space. Where is the sun? Where is the moon? Are there noticeable cloud patterns? What is the wind direction? Is the grade up or down? What about sounds? Train whistles, bird sounds, dogs barking, a football game, gurgling creeks, cars at highway speeds?

It’s difficult, but I’m working it and making progress. And you can too.

Looking for a comprehensive but free 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 Epiphany of the Lord, 1/8/24 — Fr. Mitch

Readings: Is 60:1-6, Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13, Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mt 2:1-12

 

Matthew 2:1-12  World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men† from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,

6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah,

are in no way least among the princes of Judah;

for out of you shall come a governor

who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’ ”*

7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”

9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.

 

 

Brothers and sisters, St. Paul tells us in our epistle reading (Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6) that just as the mystery of Christ and the grace of apostleship was given to him by revelation rather than through direct contact, people of non-Jewish nations are also co-partners in the promises of Christ Jesus.  Doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you can be members of the Body of Christ, the company of all faithful people. 

Raised in a world steeped in equality and inherent human rights, it seems obvious to us that national and racial barriers cannot stand between people and God.  A true God would be the God of not just one nation, but all nations.  But it wasn’t obvious to people in Jesus’ time.  In the millennia before the birth of Christ, each nation had its own pantheon of gods and its ruler was a god-king or god-queen, a pharaoh, Caesar, or empress worshiped as a god.

Equality and human rights are new ideas, brought into the world by God himself, Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago.  They were prophesied by Isaiah to Jerusalem,

 

2 For behold, darkness will cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the LORD will arise on you,

and his glory shall be seen on you.

3 Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

 

Not surprising then that a king like Herod, the King of Judea appointed by the Roman Empire, would want to know where to find the newborn King.  This new King, whoever he was, would be a great threat to his power.  So when he gets wind that greatest astronomers and astrologers of the East have seen the Star of Bethlehem moving in the heavens and have come from afar to worship him, Herod lies.  He tells the Magi that he too wants to worship the Lord.  Herod’s small mind sees another king like himself.  He assumes the newborn baby is just another human god-king and he wants to eliminate a competitor.  But the Magi are wise.  They see through Herod easily.  They disobey his orders leave without telling him where the newborn King can be found.

Herod, and every despot, tyrant, and leader who thinks he or she is a god on earth should be afraid.  Because with Christ’s birth, a new star arose in the universe who is above all human kings and gods.  Not one god among many.  Not another local, regional, or even national god.  Not another emperor, empress, king or queen behaving like a god among men.  No, this is the Son of God – the creator of the universe – the true light who is the Light of the Universe.

Yes, every oppressor, every servant of Satan, who wants to subjugate, separate, wage war, and implement some evil scheme should be afraid of Christ and his church.  Because Christians don’t follow them.  We follow Christ and Christ alone.  And thanks to Christ’s message, the sanctity of human life and the idea of human rights are now universal.

Christ dissolves the barriers between nations and races by making it clear that, since we share a common father, we are all brothers and sisters. And, by being members of the same church and accepting Christ as our King, we can give up our prejudices and nationalisms and inhabit the New Jerusalem, not only now – in the metaphysical, metaphorical, and symbolic sense – but in the future when Christ returns after the final judgement, and for all eternity, now and forevermore.

 

 

† 2:1 The word for “wise men” (magoi) can also mean teachers, scientists, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, or sorcerers.

 

* 2:6 Micah 5:2

Mettle Maker #386 and Holy Communion for the Feast of the Holy Family

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Mettle Maker #386

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 Self-Defense: Practice your Shin Box Get-ups and kicking from your knees. Watch the video on the right and make a habit of practicing your kicks not just from a standing position but from your butt, your back, and your knees. You also need to be able to go from your butt to your knees without hand involvement (just in case you have a weapon in your hand or you’re also wrestling). The trick to this is a wrestling movement called a Shin Box Get-up which — surprise! — employs the Shin Box of Folk Wrestling fame. Once on your knees, you need to able to kick from there. Everybody practices up-kicks from supine position (your back), but kicking from kneeling position is always neglected.

Here you have a movement series that’s impossible to classify as wrestling, striking, or weapons practice. Which is it? It’s all three at once! This is Rough and Tumble.

Rough and Tumble isn’t about being able to quickly and fluidly switch between rules sets or ranges. Being able to transition from boxing, to kickboxing, to grappling, to wrestling is great, as far as it goes. This is like being a cook masterful enough to design the recipes and manage the menus for four different restaurants — one specializing in French cuisine, one serving soul food, and a third serving a blend of Latin and Native American food — and spending two days a week working at each. Much respect to anyone who can do that! But a Rough and Tumbler is like a natural born Cajun cook who runs three restaurants serving the food that he prepares as naturally as your grandma bakes biscuits — without a recipe. All of the elements are there — the French, the African, Latin, and Native American — and they are perfectly harmonized. Not mixed. Not blended. Harmonized.

A Rough and Tumbler’s strikes are grabs and his holds are strikes; his grappling grips and positions set-up throws, and his throws set-up his wrestling holds and locks, which land like strikes. As with Cajun food, you might be able to spot an influence here are there, but it’s really hard to tease apart exactly which element is which.

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

Heritage Fitness and Survival Two-fer: Saddlebag Carries for Fitness and Survival.

May I suggest that, on a regular basis, you get yourself an awkward object and go for a walk.  Start with something small, like a bottle of water.  You’ll be shocked to know that just carrying a 16 oz. bottle of water in one hand, which disrupts walking mechanics by wrecking arm swing, can slow your walking speed by 15% (according to my tests).  Work your way up to heavier weights.  Try walking a mile with a gallon of water in one hand (about 9 lbs), or with a 10 - 20 lb weighted belt or an auto tire over your shoulder.  Fun facts: A gallon of water weighs about 8.3 lbs (might as well say 9 lbs, depending on the container) and the average 15” auto tire weighs about 18 lbs (about as much as 2 gals). 

Consider this scenario: While driving back from a camping trip in a remote area, your friend Fred veers to avoid hitting a deer and the pickup runs off the road into a ravine.  You are thrown from the vehicle and get up, scraped and stunned but not seriously hurt.  Standing on the steep and slope you look down and see, to your horror, that the truck plunged off a vertical cliff and is now in flames.  There is no way to get down to see if Fred made it without rappelling equipment.  You survey the area and are able to find an intact gallon of water that had been in the bed of the truck.  You estimate that you are approximately 12 miles from the nearest ranger station at the main road.  Do you have the strength to make the walk, and how long will it take? How can you even guesstimate the answers to those questions if you’ve never tried anything even remotely similar? 

Since I often walk 1 to 3 miles with awkward weights in hand, I would say that chances are good I’d be able to complete the hike in about 6 hours.  In November of 2023 I completed a 16 mile walk in 4 hours and 40 minutes with no backpack and no handheld objects – about 17.5 minutes per mile.  12 miles at that speed would take 3.5 hours.  Adding 25% due to the awkward weight increases the time to 4.375 hours.  Allowing for three 30-minute rest breaks yields a conservative estimate of 6 hours.  Hint:  Take off your belt and make a sling for the jug.  Once you get past a few pounds, gripping hands quickly go numb.

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!

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

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Homily for Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, 12/31/23 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14, Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17, Lk 2:22-40

 

22 When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),* 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”*

25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.‡ 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said,

 

29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master,

according to your word, in peace;

30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;

32 a light for revelation to the nations,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. 34 Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

36 There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. 38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

39 When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

 

 

An Angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and told her that she was going to give birth to a son who would be called Son of the Most High who whose kingdom would have no end. And then, despite having no relations with a man, she conceived and bore a son.  With all of that in mind, t's rather confusing to read that when they came to present their newborn son at the temple, "The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him."  Under the circumstances, how in the world can the prophecies of Simeon and Anna be the slightest bit amazing to Mary and Joseph?

Because that's just the way people are.  Elsewhere in the Gospels we read how the apostles, despite witnessing scores of miracles and hearing the words of the Master straight from his lips, seem to have difficulty understanding his teachings.  One betrays him for a handful of silver.  Another denies him three times.  I'm sorry to break it to you, but people -- me included -- are pretty dense.

We get up in the morning and drag ourselves to the coffee pot dreading the workday ahead, instead of looking at the sunrise full of hope and joy.  When the phone rings we flinch.  We wonder which one of our kids is calling for advice, which friend needs a helping hand or a small loan, or how late our boss wants us to work.  Instead of wincing at the phone, we should be overjoyed that our kids respect our opinions, thrilled that we have friends who are willing to help share our burdens in spite of our faults, and thankful that we have jobs that pay our bills and put food on our tables.

Yes, like Mary and Joseph, we’re a little dense.  We forget God’s blessings, God’s miracles, and God’s promises and we need a reminder.  When Mary and Joseph presented baby Jesus at the temple, they had the prophets Simeon and Anna to remind them.  We have the scriptures, our clergy, and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  We have the Holy Spirit, who comes to us in prayer.  When misfortune or tragedy strikes, it’s natural to take refuge in those things. 

May I suggest that, whether things are sunny or cloudy, we go a step further and take the advice of St. Paul in 2 Cor 2:14,17: “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. 17 For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.”

Jesus is alive.  We are standing in his presence right now, just as Mary and Joseph were at his presentation.  The scripture says, “The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”  If we are one with the Living Christ, we can open our hearts and minds every day and witness his presentation in our inner temples, allowing the infant Christ to grow to maturity in us so that we too may grow strong in spirit.

* 2:23 Exodus 13:2,12

* 2:24 Leviticus 12:8

‡ 2:26 “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew) both mean “Anointed One”