Is it O.K. to celebrate Halloween?

The true meaning of Halloween is “All Hallows Eve”.  A reference to All Saints and All Souls, which is the Christian celebration of Halloween.  The pagans believed that the dead souls roamed the earth on this night to play tricks on the living—even to the point of scaring the living by appearing evil.  Overtime, traditions morphed into one to give us witches, devils, evil personalities, and the use of carved pumpkins to ward off the evil, or tricks of the dead.

Now, this is a very generalized explanation of Halloween, in its more pagan sense.  When the true Faith—Christianity—arrived, we gave the pagan celebration a more positive component to it.  The belief that the Saints in Heaven and the Souls in Purgatory are all part of the Church became the central theme of this day—All Saints and All Souls.  As the Christian identity for the day, through the lessening of Faith, waned, a new pagan emphasis is now taking root.  The religious component is losing its hold, and we now celebrate the day without the eyes of Faith.  It has become more about the darker elements of the day, instead of the brighter, more Christian understanding that should prevail.

Now, don’t get me wrong, growing up, we made our costumes to go trick or treating.  It was more about how much candy we got, than about anything else.  Scaring people, watching monster movies, getting candy—these were fairly innocent events.  Unfortunately, Halloween has seen a major increase of the dark and pagan, than the fun and light.  There is nothing wrong with carving pumpkins, costumes, or trick or treating.  Where we go wrong is when those who call themselves Christians spend more time on this holiday in debauchery and decoration, then making sure they get to Holy Mass to celebrate our Christian Faith on All Saints and All Souls days.

Is Halloween bad?  Only when we revert to our pagan part and push away our Christian Faith!  Have fun on Halloween, dress up as a Saint, or superhero.  Forget about the demons and darkness.  Go trick or treating for the fun of it.  Be mindful, however, that the day is about remembering the dead, not fearing them.  The Saints in Heaven and the Souls in Purgatory are part of the Universal Church.  Never forget your Christian roots, and that mindfulness will keep a proper prospective on the day.