Dedication

To Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers for making the movies we always dreamed could be made of the Batman story.  And to the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting and their families.  Our prayers and love are yours.

 

 

 
Foreword
I don’t recall exactly when it clicked for me, but at some point in my childhood I began to realize that the story of Bruce Wayne/Batman was something I could relate to.  First of all, Batman is about the only superhero without supernatural powers.  He is not some super-strong alien from outer space.  He was not bitten by an insect giving him super-human abilities.  He is just a person who felt deep pain as a child and grew up seeking to transform that pain into good for others.  On one level, that is my story too.



Secondly, Batman struggles against the forces of evil in our world, both personal and communal, knowing all along that the greatest struggle he faces is the one within himself.  He attempts to take his fear of chaos (bats) and evil(badmen) and overcome them both internally in his “real” life and externally in his “pretend” life.  Along the way, life causes him to question if the real is actually pretend and the pretend actually real.  There is some profound spiritual truth in this that tells the story of most of us who seek to do something good with our lives. 



Thirdly, Batman looks cool in black and he likes fancy gadgets.  And I am a priest in a collar with an iPhone.  This may not be that big of a coincidence to be honest with you.



So I set out to create this website as a way of using my own spiritual story to help others better understand theirs and as a way of paying tribute to the story of Batman which, second only to the story of Jesus Christ, has spoken deeply to me.  An important note: I am a disciple of Jesus, but you will find that throughout this work I use illustrations from each of the major world religions.  Each faith tradition speaks of a deeper wisdom and it is from this deeper wisdom that stories like the Batman mythos come.  My respect for other religions is real.  And still I am a devout follower of Jesus Christ and my loyalty to his teaching remains primary. 

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Whether Christopher and Jonathan Nolan consciously drew from Christianity or any other religion’s stories in writing their Batman trilogy is for them to say, not me.  What I do recognize throughout their story is echoes of the story of my own faith and the faiths of people around the world.  This is part of the beauty of our stories, they all draw from a deeper well.



Finally, with the release of the third and final Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan, it is also a good time to commemorate the truly profound adaptation of the Batman story into film he has created.  I hope that this creation of mine will better enable you to enjoy his.

 

Christ’s peace,
Rich

















 

 

Continue to Stage 1: “The day my world fell apart”: losing our innocence forever changes our life





Notices:

All scripture is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Batman and all related characters are copyright of DC Comics.

Videos and movie still images are property of Warner Brothers.  All rights reserved.

This work has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity or persons involved in creating or producing the Batman films or comics.
The Dark Night poem from: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, revised edition (1991).  Copyright 1991 ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.