Catholic Families, Be Not Afraid

There is a tendency for Catholic parents to be afraid of many worldly trends and celebrations in our modern society. For example, some Catholic parents decline to allow their children to participate in Halloween celebrations and Trick or Treating. Well-meaning parents of faith view it as Paganistic, macabre, and un-Christian. Well, indeed some of the decorations, costumes, and practices tend toward morbid. Isn’t there always one kid in the neighborhood who wears the old plastic axe in the head costume with fake blood running down the face? And, some parents are perennially unable to resist placing prankster ice cube eyeballs into the party punch bowl. However, Catholic families can rise above the ghoulish and enjoy Halloween and Trick or Treating while actively helping to revive its religious heritage.

The Christian Roots of Halloween

No doubt you have heard that the word Halloween is a linguistic distortion over time of the original phrase, “All Hallows Eve.” Halloween occurs on the evening (e’en), before All Saints Day. Saints are the hallowed, the holy and honored ones who have died and are now in heaven. In the early days of Christianity, many of these persons had been martyred. That and the likely spillover into All Souls Day (the day after All Saints), might explain how some of the gruesome features of Halloween crept in.

Also, deeply embedded in the Western psyche are the ghosts of Hamlet’s father and the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, who wander the earth suffering punishment for their sins in life. Church teachings s about saints and souls suffering in Purgatory are the historical foundation of Halloween.

Many cultural practices have been comingled with the Catholic origin of Halloween. One old Celtic belief indicates that dressing like goblins is just the opposite of what some parents fear about Halloween. Rather than encourage children to embrace evil spirits, it was thought to scare them away because some ancients believed demons could enter the regular world to wreak havoc with people at this pre-winter time. The practices of seeking “soul cakes” and “guising” are the progenitors of today’s Trick or Treating. There are many layers of myths and facts about Halloween which one Dominican Friar explains.

Children Need to Learn About Evil

Like us, children must live in society projecting good Christian examples in the midst of bad things happening around us. Christ dined with sinners and tax collectors in hope of making conversions. Keeping children completely out of the Halloween festivities is a bit hasty and isolationist. As Catholics, including children, we are to engage others, to take the message of Christ out into the world, where sinners are. Helping resurrect the Catholic heritage of Halloween is a kind of missionary venture ready-made for kids. Father Grunow of the Word of Fire Blog maintains that it is time for Catholics to embrace Halloween.

Some parents may still prefer to keep their kids walled-off from graveyard spooky decorations and costumes. One event strongly implies, however, that God desires children to learn about the real world and obtain an understanding of evil. Consider Fatima when the Virgin Mary showed the children a frightening vision of Hell. The seers’ ages were 7, 9, and 10. That vision would not have occurred without divine approval. So, 7 is not too young to learn about coping with evil in the world.

We don’t worry about children being led astray when we allow them to see good and bad witches in the children’s movie classic, The Wizard of Oz. Nor would a typical parent seriously worry about children hearing or watching the beloved Dickens story, A Christmas Carol which has ghosts aplenty. While he isn’t exactly a devil figure, children enjoy The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and how he was won over by the Whos’ symbolic Christian love and joy. These are examples of how children already are exposed to evil. With parental guidance, exposure to Halloween’s horror aspects can be limited while highlighting its Christian history.

Creativity, Enchantment, Celebrating Christianity

Dreaming up and making costumes is fun for kids. Parents can steer their children toward saintly costumes or at least inoffensive characters, or let them invent. I still recall after many years what fun it was to see some people attend an adult Halloween party, dressed as Mother Nature and a trio who came as head-to-toe primary colors. Kids might undertake their own little evangelization projects by educating their non-Catholic neighbors and friends about Halloween history and its Christian origins. This can be especially enlightening to them to discover what most non-Catholics don’t know and teach them about saints, intercession, and miracles in response to prayer and the souls in Purgatory.

An enjoyable and evangelistic practice might involve inserting messages into treat bags for handing out to Trick or Treaters. Children can make pictures, write factoids, or riddles on index cards or construction paper. It could be a simple inserting a snippet from a reference book on the Christian history of Halloween into treat bags for handing out, e.g.,  Wikipedia Halloween listing. Children delight in seeing the darkness lit up just like at Christmastime. Decorative string lights can also be put up. Carving a Jack O Lantern has become traditional. I’ve seen Jesus faces carved into lit pumpkins and placed on people’s porches to convey Christianity without being too preachy.

Be Not Afraid

Halloween has become a confusing jumble of practices from a variety of sources and the religious roots have been overshadowed. The presumptive nexus of Halloween to the demonic is at least partially inaccurate. It is a great time to educate children and rejuvenate the Christian origins of Halloween. I think kids will appreciate learning their faith history through having Halloween fun, the same way Christ’s parables focused listeners on the gospel through entertaining storytelling. Catholic parents should “be not afraid” to expose kids to the distasteful parts of Halloween if they take the time to teach and monitor their children’s level of participation in the festivities.