Catholic Mom: Halloween Dilemma
Despite my deliberate attempts to ignore Halloween my two year old has been pouting since summer, “Mama I want to go Halloween now!” Halloween/ Pumpkin Day is pushed on children in all popular media outlets, even PBS Kids! There is just something captivating about receiving gifts of candy, bright pumpkins, and engaging in imaginative play all day that endears Halloween to kids.
Thankfully, my kids do have favorite saints: St. Therese of Lisieux, Saint Benedict, Saint Michael and especially Carlo Acutis, cuz he is a teenager and teenagers are super cool. However, Halloween is still cooler to them and awaited all year!
A Simple Christian Perspective on Halloween
I try really hard to be honest with my children. I want them to trust me, tell me the truth and come to me for guidance.
The first thing I explain to my kids about Halloween is the truth:
- Everyday, day including Halloween, is the Day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24).
- Ghosts are not real.
- Witches are real, they look just like us but their heart does not belong to Jesus. Witches don’t trust Jesus. They believe in many Gods just like the Egyptians from the story of Moses. They pray to the universe that does not have ears to hear them or eyes to see them. We pray to God, the creator of the universe.
- Mass is said everyday even Halloween. And Jesus is waiting for you in the Host at every Catholic Church.
- Catholics celebrate All Hallows Eve a night before All Hallows Day (All Saints Day).
- Hallow means Holy so All Hallows Eve is “Holy Night.”
- October is the Month of the Holy Rosary.
- October 1st, feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux.
- October 2nd, Guardian Angels
- October 13th, the anniversary of the final apparition to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal.
- October 31st, All Hallows Eve, traditionally the night before All Saints Day.
A Simple Christian Perspective on Halloween
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” (Psalm 25:5, NABRE)
Jesus celebrated Passover and Hanukkah, yet most Christians don’t. Many Christians justify celebrating Halloween and it’s not just one day, it’s a season!
Jesus didn’t teach to celebrate death. Jesus died a horrific and humiliating death so we could have eternal life. A man whose dead body hung on a tree was believed to be cursed by God in the time and place where Jesus died. Jesus raised people from the dead, he didn’t tell them to dress up like evil spirits and put food on the graves of the dead. Jesus gave His followers the authority to cast out Demons.
Jesus was alive when the Druids existed and did not teach their ways. If the pagan harvest festivals were good and pleasing to our Merciful Father, why didn’t Jesus celebrate like them?
The Bible instructs us to:
Refrain from every kind of evil.
“May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it. “ (1 Thessalonians 5:22-24, NABRE)
Christ Conquers, Christ Reigns, Christ Rules!
Throughout History, God has conquered pagan sites and days dedicated to evil. Look at how God had the Virgin of Guadalupe request a church for Jesus erected at Tepeyac Hill, directly over the site of a female pagan idol. And the natives ignorant of the Jewish prophesy writings in Genesis called her in Nahuatl: “She who crushes the serpent.” aka Guadalupe.
On a day previously dedicated to pagans suspiciously “celebrating nature,” a mass is said at every Catholic church for the souls of the dead.
As a former Halloween lover, I can honestly say only lukewarm Christians who don’t have living faith can justify spending energy and time to celebrate Halloween. If you pray for wisdom and discernment your Merciful Father will answer your prayers. The scales will fall from your eyes. (Acts 9:18)
1. Give God Attention on Halloween
“I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers.” (Matthew 7:23, NABRE)
On Halloween you as a Christian must do what you do every other day of the year. In this season of my life that means:
- 20 min on scripture;
- 5-15 minutes in prayer.
- Attend mass and receive our daily bread (Eucharist)
We have time for this if we are honest. People spend a lot of time on Halloween, that means they have time for Jesus.
As a Catholic I can pray for the conversion of sinners. The whole point of All Saints Day is to pray for souls.
2. Pray on All Hallows Eve
Intercessory prayer is 100% biblical. Pray for the conversion of sinners. Every Christian can practice a minuscule act of basic charity and say a 5 minute prayer for others. Pray especially for apostates who reject Jesus or don’t believe in Jesus to love Him and know Him. I recommend 3 simple prayers for Halloween and every day of the year for that matter.
- Saint Gertrude Prayer (1 minute) https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/St-Gertrude-Holy-Card.pdf
- Divine Mercy Chapelette (5minute). Call upon the Most Precious Blood of Jesus in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet
- The Rosary (15 minutes) offered up for a dead loved one or the conversion of a sinner: https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary
3. Evangelize on Halloween
Last October, I felt defeated by secular culture. I was originally going to put up a Saint Benedict garden flag and call it a day. Suddenly I realized: On October 31st houses get the most visitors of any day of the year. Halloween is the perfect holiday for evangelizing to children! Bring souls to God through Mary! She crushed the head of the serpent, forget Halloween make a Mary garden! I would quietly resist the darkness with a beautiful new Mary Statue and matching blue and gold autumnal decor!
That October, I prayed a lot to Saint Maximillian Kolbe, soldier of the Immaculata. I thought about how Mary had interceded for my family so many times, even doing a miracle for us in February. Instead of gruesome and scary my modest front porch would be extra beautiful to signify the beauty of everything God touches. I kept thinking: “Use evil for good.” I ordered the best Mary statue I could afford and left it all in the Blessed Mother’s hands.
Mary’s Halloween Miracle
Nevertheless, the night before Halloween, my kids and I put together 20 Halloween goody bags stuffed generously with candy and scripture stickers. I prayed the word of God would touch at least one little heart that night. I prayed to get trick-or-treaters to spread God’s word and boy did Mama deliver!
I was beyond sad when we got home much later than expected that Halloween night. We were not home for the first half of the night, I was certain all our efforts had been lost. We had surely missed any trick or treaters. Mary had other plans.
For the first time ever, we got over 20 trick-or-treaters! I ran out of goody bags (but not candy) filled with the word of God for each beautiful child.
This year I will be taking it up a notch and praying over the goody bags filled with candy and colorful children’s Rosaries.
I will pray that the parents of those children encounter Jesus, that if they are lukewarm toward Him, they become fervent and protective of the flock they have been entrusted with.
Note: If you are a lukewarm Christian, Jesus promises to make you reverent to Him if you consecrate yourself to HiS Sacred Heart: Participate in the First Fridays for 9-consecutive months.
Do you believe this is true? Or is he using a terrorist tactic, of taking credit for something they didn’t do to appear more powerful?
Recommended: How to Have A Catholic Halloween https://acatholicmomslife.com/how-to-have-a-catholic-halloween/
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