Redeeming Halloween
Hallow is the same word for holy that is in the Lord’s Prayer, and e’en is a contraction of evening.
The word Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows Eve.
All Hallows Eve was originally one holy evening service for two feasts celebrated by the Church: All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2.
All Saints Days honors the doctrine of the communion of saints.
All Souls Day commemorates all the faithful departed.
We need to use discernment to separate the various sites, sounds, signs and symbols, those used purely for enjoyment and good natured fun and those that are deliberately diabolical and evil.
We can create fond family-time memories with our God-given creative, joyful, fun-filled, and humorous endowments.
Let’s be vigilant.
We need to protect our children from very real dangers, to carefully select the costumes that are not contrary to and contradict our faith filled relationship with God, and choose carefully if and where children will “trick or treat”.
Violent movies with macabre settings inundate stores and infiltrate screens.
Warped personalities copy malicious acts, don’t give them the publicity they crave.
Young people curiously experiment with occult practices because of the publicity given to it.
Whenever we see or hear about these things say a prayer for good, beauty and truth to triumph over evil, horror and lies.
It’s precisely because we do believe in the reality of evil that we promise in the Sacrament of Baptism to turn away from satan and all his malice wickedness.
Most of all we must be free from fear.
We who are in Christ have nothing to fear, and we should be ready with an answer to those who act as if the devil were the equal and opposite of God.
There is no equal and opposite of God, satan is a created being, a fallen angel.
Christ has conquered sin and satan once and for all.
All of us, saints and angels, people of faith living and dead, share in that victory.
Let’s reclaim our sacred, traditional, spiritual heritage to help us become the saints we are each called to be for the salvation of souls.
The word Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows Eve.
All Hallows Eve was originally one holy evening service for two feasts celebrated by the Church: All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2.
All Saints Days honors the doctrine of the communion of saints.
All Souls Day commemorates all the faithful departed.
We need to use discernment to separate the various sites, sounds, signs and symbols, those used purely for enjoyment and good natured fun and those that are deliberately diabolical and evil.
We can create fond family-time memories with our God-given creative, joyful, fun-filled, and humorous endowments.
Let’s be vigilant.
We need to protect our children from very real dangers, to carefully select the costumes that are not contrary to and contradict our faith filled relationship with God, and choose carefully if and where children will “trick or treat”.
Violent movies with macabre settings inundate stores and infiltrate screens.
Warped personalities copy malicious acts, don’t give them the publicity they crave.
Young people curiously experiment with occult practices because of the publicity given to it.
Whenever we see or hear about these things say a prayer for good, beauty and truth to triumph over evil, horror and lies.
It’s precisely because we do believe in the reality of evil that we promise in the Sacrament of Baptism to turn away from satan and all his malice wickedness.
Most of all we must be free from fear.
We who are in Christ have nothing to fear, and we should be ready with an answer to those who act as if the devil were the equal and opposite of God.
There is no equal and opposite of God, satan is a created being, a fallen angel.
Christ has conquered sin and satan once and for all.
All of us, saints and angels, people of faith living and dead, share in that victory.
Let’s reclaim our sacred, traditional, spiritual heritage to help us become the saints we are each called to be for the salvation of souls.