Halloween/All Hallows Eve/All Saints Day

October is just around the corner and the inescapable debates over the Christianity or Paganism of Halloween has begun. This debate occurs annually along with the Holiday. I have already noticed a few facebook posts on the topic which will no doubt increase the closer it gets to the Holiday.  Rightly so, Christians have legitimate reasons to be concerned about the Holiday, it's origins, and it's modern practices.  I spent a little time this morning after waking to reflect on the communion of saints and this topic came to mind as well.  I thought I would share some of my reflections.

Holiday= Holy Day

Holy= Something set apart by God

If the church has declared that something is Holy then it should be something that points people toward Christ.  The Saints are called Saints because we believe that they are in heaven because lives they led were for Jesus. Their lives point toward Christ. The Saints would not want something to distract people from Christ. They would be especially saddened if something about them distracted people from Christ. A Holiday to celebrate the Saints, "All Saints Day", should be something that leads people to worship and praise of God. 

Debate over the origins of Halloween continues, some say it was a pagan holiday first, others say it was a Christian Holiday first. Whichever was first, it was both and the two became combined over time.  To be a Christian Holy Day celebrating the Saints, it must be something that points to Christ.  Many of the current secular traditions that even Christians are participating in do not do this.  Dressing in demonic or seductive costumes does not point towards Jesus.  Wild parties do not point toward Jesus. Even "Trick or Treat" while seeming harmless on the surface is something we should cautiously evaluate.

I think some type of costumes are okay, as long as in some way they point to Jesus. Dressing as a saint on All Saints Day would be more appropriate.  My daughter has already declared her intent to dress as a ninja this Halloween. I am okay with that because one of her favorite priests is a fan of Ninjas and has talked about ninjas in homilies.  That priest once mentioned that he was looking into the Greek or Latin words used for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Fortitude is one of the seven gifts and apparently one of the root words for fortitude can mean "patient endurance". That was exciting to him because ninja can be translated as "one who patiently endures."   So a ninja halloween costume is one I will allow for my daughter.  I do think we parents should be careful what costumes if any they allow their children to wear for this Holiday.

Secular holidays or Holidays of other religions are a different topic for another time.  All Saints Day is a Holy Day recognized and observed by the church. So for me that settles the debate as to whether or not a Christian should celebrate this day. Yes, I will celebrate All Saints Day and other days declared Holy by Christ's church.  No, I will not allow my daughter (or myself), dress up in a demonic costume or a revealing costume.  The jury is still out on "trick or treat". We will attend mass that day, we will remember the lives of saints and loved ones in Christ who have passed on that day.

Someone I know, whom I have in the past discussed this topic with, made a blog post a couple of years ago saying that celebration of Halloween is evil. She said that we can't dedicate something evil to God to call it good.  She compared this to dedicating abortion to God and calling it good.  I disagree.  Abortion is intrinsically evil. The church does not and never will approve of murdering a baby.  There is nothing intrinsically evil about October 31st or about November 1st.  What we do with that day can be good or evil by each persons choices.