I know that many people are afraid to go to confession, I myself often get some nerves, and some people also believe there is no real need for confession.  I want to tell you that we all need to go to confession to clean out our souls and live a life as free from sin as we possibly can.  Try to get to confession as much as you can, there is no sin that Jesus does not forgive.  Don’t be scared of talking to a priest either, he is sworn to silence by the Seal of Confession and he wants to help you live a life closer to Jesus which is impossible to do without confession.  So I tell you all…go to confession, clean your souls, and get closer to Jesus =D

Harvey Dent was at one point Gotham’s “White Knight”. He did whatever he could to clean up crime in Gotham and wouldn’t let anyone stop him from doing just that. He said numerous times that he wasn’t afraid of the mob, gangsters, politicians, journalists, or anyone else. He was an amazing leader who stood up for what was good and just. Batman loved Harvey Dent because Harvey was the person that Batman could never be. Harvey, as Gotham’s DA, could attack crime and protect the city without having to hide in the shadows like Batman has to. Batman knew Gotham needed a hero that didn’t have to hide, and he was so excited when he saw Harvey Dent could be that hero. However, at one point when Harvey’s girlfriend was killed, Harvey went very wrong. He was a wreck because the woman he loved so dearly and was going to marry died so suddenly and tragically. The joker took full advantage of this and turned Gotham’s hero and “White Knight” into the evil Two Face. I dont know if I’ve ever seen such an amazing hero turn so evil so tragically. Harvey gave up on the good and just that he previously fought for and took a much more pesimistic view on life. He thought the world was unfair and completely gave up on trying to fight for the good and just that he prevously did.

Harvey Dent is not the kind of leader we want to be. He gave up and stopped fighting when times got hard. We cannot do that if we want to really be a leader and make a difference in the world. We have to keep fighting throught the hard times or we will never accomplish anything. It really is a shame that Harvey Dent was so weak because he really could have made an amazing difference in the city of Gotham. Remember that…if you really want to make a difference you have to be a leader and fight throught the hard times. If you give up when times get hard nothing will be accomplished.

Unlike Harvey Dent, Batman is an amazing hero and role model. He spends a great deal of his time totally selflessly helping out Gotham City by cleaning up crime. Since Batman is a vigilante, he receives absolutely nothing for doing this…no money, position in government…nothing at all, but he does it anyway and to the best of his ability. In this movie, Batman also shows us that he is a man of moral principles, who will do what he believes is right no matter what other people think or how difficult it may be. In the movie, most of the people in Gotham City want Batman arrested for being a vigilante, but that doesn’t stop Batman from doing what he knows is right…protecting the innocent people from the harsh crime of Gotham City. In addition to that, we notice in the movie that Batman passed on a number of opportunities he had to kill the Joker. This would have ended a great deal of his problems and made Gotham a lot safer. However, Batman has a set of moral rules he refuses to break no matter what. Regardless of what good would have come out of killing the Joker Batman knew it was wrong to kill and wouldn’t break that rule. The Joker tried repeatedly to get Batman to break his rules, as the Joker “lives in a world without rules”, but the Batman always stayed strong and stood up for what he knew was right.  He really is an amazing person.

The lessons we have to learn from the character of Batman are simple…always do what we know is right, regardless of how difficult it may be or what obstacles might be in our way. We can also learn that our moral rules must not be broken, no matter how good the consequences of an immoral action may be. We also see that we should take an optimistic view on life. Unlike Harvey Dent, who saw the world as cruel, wrong, and downright unfair and gave up because of it, Batman always stayed optimistic and worked hard so that things might improve.

I hope you all enjoyed this amazing movie and learned a little something from these two very deep characters.

]]> http://thepathwaytosainthood.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/character-depth-in-batman-the-dark-knight/feed/ 0 ccarlson5 http://thepathwaytosainthood.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/shawn-johnson-wins-gold/ http://thepathwaytosainthood.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/shawn-johnson-wins-gold/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:31:16 +0000 ccarlson5 http://thepathwaytosainthood.wordpress.com/?p=44 ]]> Just to update my previous post about American gymnast Shawn Johnson…the young athlete won her first gold medal in the final gymnastic event yesterday…the balance beam finals. Congratulations to this great young woman for all her hard work it clearly paid off. With one gold medal and three silvers, I’d say Shawn Johnson had a pretty successful Olympic games. Keep working hard Shawn and most importantly…keep that amazing smile!!!

So basically Shawn Johnson has been able to not get so caught up in the fierce competition of one of the most popular olympic events, and still have the time of her life.  If you watch her at the olympics you can tell that she is enjoying every second of the experience.  I think we can all learn a very important lesson from this 16 year old gymnast from Iowa.  I think at times we can all get too caught up in whats going on around us that we stop enjoying whats going on in our lives.  Maybe its that big test you have to pass, or some financial troubles, or maybe the stress of planning a wedding.  Oftentimes things that require a great deal of attention can make us forget how much fun life can be and can stop us from smiling.  Never forget how amazing life is and how much fun it can be!!!  If Shawn Johnson can not let the fierce Olympic competition get her down, than why should anything in our lives do that.  Take one look at Shawn’s awesome smile and remember life rocks, keep smiling!

At the above link, we can see an amazing story that brought such a smile to my face when I first read it.  Chase Hilgenbrinck, a professional soccer player with the New England Revolution, decided to retire from the game in order to join the seminary and study to become a priest.  You can read his story at the link I posted above, but I want to talk a little bit about why I think this story is so truly amazing…even though this man may not play a more prominent sport in America, like baseball or football, and he’s not even a top notch MLS player like David Beckham or Landon Donovan, Chase still made a very difficult and honorable decision in choosing to leave professional soccer behind him as he pursues a vocation as a Catholic Priest.  This is possibly the most counter-cultural move that anybody can make.  Think about it…our culture teaches that money and fame are two of the most important things in life.  Our culture seems to also put professional athletes on a pedestal, making them seem like celebrities, or even superheroes sometimes.  Chase Hilgenbrinck decided to leave all that behind because he knows nothing the American Society as a whole can offer us will ever make him as happy as would serving God for the rest of his life.  It is a truly honorable and amazing thing that this man did.  Saying YES to God is a very, very difficult thing, and needing to say goodbye to a sport you know and love professionally makes it even harder.  Congratulations Chase on making this great step in your life.  Lets all pray for him!!!

I went to mass yesterday at Camp Echo Bay with the 7-9th graders, and Fr Pat began talking about independence day and quizzing the children about the history of American Independence. I couldn’t help but think that this was going to be another one of those homilies that has nothing to do with religion, like the one I usually hear at my parish on New Years. However, Fr Pat gave a beautiful homily about how each and every time we celebrate the mass we are celebrating an independence day. We are actually celebrating our independence from sin, which was made possible because of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, he freed us from our sins, making it possible that we can live with Him in heaven forever.

Happy Independence Day, both from England and from sin, to all!!

Teamwork makes everything easier.  Whether its doing your homework, mowing the lawn, cleaning your room, planning a retreat, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or getting though the tough times in life, being able to work as a part of a team always leaves you better off than working alone does.  When working as a part of a team not only will your work always get done faster, but you will also do a better job at whatever it is you are doing because you have more time to focus on details and you will be enjoying your work more since you will have someone to share your time with.  Working as a team in life makes everything more enjoyable.  For example, cleaning your room by yourself is to most people a very boring chore.  However, if you clean your room with your sibling, close friend, etc. the time spent with your partner becomes so much fun that you completely forget how boring cleaning your room is.

Don’t try to get through life by yourself.  We all need teammates to help make life more enjoyable and easier.  I know I wouldn’t have been able to get through my four years of high school if it wasn’t for my friends.  We were a great team and got through every challenge that life through our way.  Stick close to your teammates and you’ll love life just as much as I have.

Salesian has changed me in more ways than anyone will ever know. I know I grew so much as a person, though I also know I have a lot more growing to do. Salesian gave me more amazing friends than I could possibly imagine, and I love them with all my heart. Many people will tell you that graduation is very bittersweet, which is exactly how I feel. It is very exciting to be moving on in life but at the same time I know I will miss Salesian very much. I remember after the graduation ceremony I took pictures with all my friends then after a little while I turned around and everyone was gone. The whole thing ended very abruptly. Kinda crazy, I still can’t believe its over.

So this is it, the phase of my life at Salesian High School is complete. It was an amazing four years and I have no regrets whatsoever. I wonder what the next phase of life has in store for me?

St. Dominic Savio died as a young boy, 15 years old, and was a student of St. Don Bosco. Dominic Savio decided that he had one goal in life and that was to become a saint, no matter what it took. Dominic went to such lengths as sleeping on rocks instead of pillows and depriving himself of food because he thought depriving himself of such “luxuries” would help him earn a place in heaven. One day Don Bosco noticed this and told Dominic he was totally wrong. You don’t have to sleep on rocks or starve yourself to be a saint. At that point Don Bosco gave Dominic Savio a simple formula of how to become a saint…

1) Be Cheerful. Always stay cheerful even when life tries to get you down. The devil HATES it when we are cheerful because when we are smiling we aren’t thinking about doing anything immoral. It’s alot easier to go through life with a smile so saints must always stay cheerful even when it can be very difficult.

2) Do Your Duties. When it’s time for homework devote yourself 100% to that homework. When it’s time to do chores make sure you get them done right away. When it’s time to play football, make sure you do it and do it well. This sounds so easy but can be very difficult. A saint does what he is supposed to do when he is supposed to do it.

3) Service to Others. A saint devotes his life to serving others. This doesn’t have to be single handedly ending world poverty or spending the rest of your life in Africa with poor children. Service can be very small and simple things. Help your mom cook dinner one night, help that old teacher at school carry his/her books, shovel the snow for your elderly neighbor without asking for money, etc. There are so many ways we can help others in little ways we need to take advantage of it. I once heard a priest say “Happiness is a byproduct of serving others.” Happiness comes through service. Serve others and you will not only be happy, you will be a saint!

I love this formula for being a saint because it is so simple. It spells out exactly what we have to do in order to become a saint…be cheeful, do your duties, serve others. This is obviously much more easily said than done but if we can follow this simple formula like the young 15 year old St. Dominic Savio did, we will be well on our way to heaven.