Messiahs and Superheroes

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

I confess that when I was a boy, I used to spend a dime a week on comic books. It's hard to imagine that one could buy anything for a dime, but a comic book or a trip to the local movie theatre cost me one thin dime. However, let me get back to the comic books.

I favored the ever popular comic books about superheroes. I loved to read about Superman, Batman and Robin, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of these mythical beings. When they got together and cooperated on thwarting some evil, they were called the Justice League of America. Today there seems to be a resurgence in tales about these super beings who masqueraded as common citizens until danger and evil raised their ugly heads. Now all these figures are appearing in the movies with some regularity.

To a certain extent the longing expressed in the Prophet Isaiah for a Messiah is similar to our own fascination with the superhero. Today's first reading from the prophet describes such a deliverer; at the same time it tells us about the times in which he lived. If Israel was in need of such a hero, times must have been bad. In point of fact, the oracles contained within the first the first chapters of Isaiah were delivered just before the Assyrian conquest of the Promised Land. Isaiah realizes that Israel needs a deliver to snatch the country from the grips of certain destruction. Yes, times were indeed very bad.

We use these oracles as we consider the culmination of God's kingdom in our midst, as we prepare for the return of Jesus. We remember all that Jesus did for us when he came the first time, and we dream of the salvation he will bring with him when he returns. The word "Messiah" means "the anointed one." In modern parlance, it means superhero.