All Hallow's Eve

We have missed all the Halloween festivities due to homework or illness this year. We're all battling a cold so there may not even be trick-or-treating or trick-or-treaters as I really don't suppose the parents would appreciate us handing our cold germs with the mini candy bars.

It's not my favorite holiday but I have enjoyed Halloweens of the past. I remember trick or treating on a road in rural Mississippi where most everyone on the road was kinfolk. I remember an older cousin showing up on the roof with a shovel in his hand and scaring us when we arrived at his door. I remember a great uncle that was dressed in a dog costume and laid perfectly still. Once we were convinced that it must be a stuffed decoration, he jumped up and scared us. A couple years ago, I coordinated a Scooby Doo theme with the kids. With my kids, niece and nephews, we had Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy. I was pregnant with my daughter who we determined would be Velma. But we joked that if she turned out to be a boy, then my nephew would have to be Velma's character and we would call him Vernon. We decorated our van with flowers and wrote The Mystery Machine. It was so much fun. I may never top it.

There are several posts circulating on Facebook about Halloween. I like this one from Trouble Face Mom. I do agree that we separate ourselves so much from the world that we fail to have an influence on our culture. I decided to do some research and learned quite a bit about the origins of Halloween.

The Catholic Church took the message of Jesus to the pagans. Thank goodness that they did because those are my ancestors. Without the missionary efforts of the church, I wouldn't have had the privilege of growing up in a Christian family.

There was an effort to Christianize the pagan customs. They celebrated a fall festival called Samhain in Gaelic culture. During this time, they believed that the dead could come back to the living. The Christians showed that we also believed from an ancient Jewish belief that we also can connect with those who had died through our prayers. All Saints Day was celebrated in May during the celebration of Easter. It was moved to November 1st so that they could honor the dead in a way that pointed to Christ by celebrating those that had given their lives for their belief in Christ.

I did quite a bit of reading and learned the origins of the Jack o'lantern. Fascinating story that shows the power of the cross. The origin of bats may have been from the bonfires of Samhain that attracted insects which offered bats a meal. Halloween History had some interesting tidbits like sugar-rationing ending trick-or-treating for a period of time. American Catholic contains several articles about how to bring back Halloween to its Christian roots.

So here are my thoughts.

If you are trying to Christianize Halloween, you are many centuries too late. It is a Christian holiday as the eve of two feasts, All Saints Day (Nov 1) and All Souls Day (Nov 2). By changing it to a fall festival or harvest festival, you are getting closer to Samhain rather than All Hallow's Eve. Hallow means holy.

Now if a fall festival is a safer place to celebrate, by all means do so. But I agree with Trouble Face Mom that we miss out on an opportunity to be a light in our neighborhoods.

But the biggest problem that I see is that we throw around judgments of evil where it doesn't exist so much that we fail to see evil when it's right in front of our face.

Children dressing up in costumes is not evil! It happens on a weekly if not daily basis in my house.

Sharing candy with your neighbors is not evil! It may have its roots in sharing food with the poor which is right in line with Jesus' solidarity with the poor. It is called Beggars night in some places and times.

Acknowledging the dead is not evil. Many have died for the sake of Christ's name. We should never forget that. So skulls and skeletons are not evil.

Celebrating the harvest is not evil. As long as we acknowledge where those blessings come from.

What is evil? Here is what the Catechism tells us.

"All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone." (Catechism, #2116)

And lastly, we need to remember that we have nothing to fear. The devil is not equal and opposite of God. He is a created being and he has been defeated. We should use this opportunity to explain to our children why we should avoid witches, demons and such since they would glorify Satan. And share why we avoid the things of the occult that draw us away from Christ and into Satan's oldest ploy by promising that we can be like gods.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31