catholicsphere

What’s the big deal about halloween anyway that gets some Christians boycotting, shutting off their lights and closing their doors to the costumed-kids around the neighborhood?

There are those who say that Halloween is “the devil’s night” and refuse to participate. But, Halloween is “All Hallow’s Eve” … the evening of All Saints Day. Like all holy days, All Saints Day starts at 4pm on the day before, October 31st. Pagan, wiccans, satanists, etc will follow the Church calendars in order to create something “anti-”. There are some out there who would say that Catholics, in particular, are guilty of paganism because they celebrate their feast days on the same day as pagans. Yet, this is just the opposite.

My wife recently retold a story of a Protestant pastor’s wife who seemed to have a good reason for not engaging in Halloween activities. While at a women’s Bible college years ago, this woman, along with the other women at the college, were told to stay in their locked dorms on that night. When they looked out the window of the dorms that night, they saw satanists and wiccans, etc roaming about the campus, performing various rituals against Christianity.

As I thought about this story, if it is true, I thought how sad it is. These people should not have been cowering in their dorm rooms. Instead they should have been out there taking back the night. While there are physical dangers, not to mention the dangers of spiritual warfare, Christians need not to shrink back from evil. Christians need to face head-on any evil that seeks to oppress them. They need not fear this, as they are on the side of the Victor, and He is with them.

This is the witness that Christians need to bring to their neighbors at Halloween. No matter what other objections you have to Halloween (for instance, trick-or-treating), turn on the lights, open up your doors, and greet neighbors cheerfully and with the love of Christ Jesus. Don’t let evil reign any night — make it a positive night, a night of faith — a celebration of saints, a rememberance of the triumph we have in Christ.