More than a few Christians I know see Superman and a number of other comic heroes as avatars of the the Christ archetype; the proverbial losers.

Clark Kent, for the sake of identifying with the human race, has to hide his powers and allow himself to be treated like a total loser. His adopted father tells him:

You were made for much more important things than just winning football games.

The Church contains within her depositum fidei a record of thousands of people we hail as saints. They are venerated and hailed as heroes of the faith, those who have crossed over to the other side of the Church triumphant.

But if we examined their lives carefully enough, we just might find a vast many Christ archetypes, proverbial losers who pursued a faith in Christ which necessitated that they void themselves of all significance and heroic inclinations.

To learn the discipline of silence even if you might be the most articulate of all preachers and rhetorists. To exercise the discipline of passivity even if you have muscles strong enough to crush a giant. To learn to submit even if you have the authority to lord it over others. To learn to be nothing even though you know you are something.

This is the mystery of heroism. One must discover that one cannot yield joy and self-significance from being a hero. Heroism is a path of torment, a path of suffering, a path of total self-denial, a ridiculous way of being that one must embrace. Only then can one be a true hero. To be a true hero is to save the world in ways the world cannot recognise.

Heroism and stardom do not get along. Heroes aren't people who win football games. They're made for much more important things than winning football games.