- Halloween or All Hallows Eve can be just another marketing event for retailers of lollies, costumes and decorations or it can be an opportunity to learn about history, religion and other cultures. One or all of the sources below either inform or expand on the Halloween tradition.
- Halloween – Ghoulish or Godly?
- Celebrating Halloween and All Saints Day – Franciscan Media
- Inviting the Souls of the Dead | Huffington Post
- The skeleton dance - Eureka Street
- Friar Greg’s Take on Halloween – Franciscan Media
- Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – Franciscan Media
Halloween
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Catholics remember the saints, pray to them to intercede for them and try to model their lives on these exceptional examples of Christian life. Then there are the special people in one's life, not canonised by the Church, who have died but are not forgotten. The ones who were special examples of love - the people who continue to influence every time they are thought of - a best friend, a parent or grandparent, a teacher, or neighbour. Holy memory is intrinsic to spirituality.
In a thoughtful and insightful article about the Day of the Dead, Netenel Miles-Yepez says "El Día de los Muertos is amongst the most holy, and the most human of all our holidays". This short article is worth reading to understand how remembering those who have gone before us enriches our spiritual life. Read 'Inviting the Souls of the Dead' in the Huffington Post, CLICK HERE. Bishop Peter Ingham, Catholic Diocese of Wollongong, put out a one page statement concerning Halloween that concisely puts this into the context of All Saints and All Souls Day, 1st and 2nd of November. Access it HERE. Links updated October 2017. In Australia, celebrating Halloween continues to increase in popularity even as many brush it off as just another opportunity for retailers to market (sell) more junk --- decorations, costumes, face paint, and lollies. What is apparent is that more children are hearing about Halloween, asking their parents if they can 'do trick or treat' or raising it with teachers if the class can have a Halloween party.
Historical and religious overview is provided about Halloween (All Hallows Eve) and how it relates to both All Saints and All Souls Days at the Franciscan Media web site, Click Here to read. [NEW LINK to different source, https://www.franciscanmedia.org/halloween-and-its-christian-roots/ ] Some Saintly resources are advertised in the September 2013 Current Awareness Bulletin. Advertised resources are available for loan to schools and other bona fide patrons of the Catholic Resource Centre, Bathurst, NSW (Australia). The Centre can provide supplier/distributor information to others in Australia or check via TROVE for possible libraries near you that may hold it. P.S. Already Halloween is becoming too much so for some in Oz. Friends in Sydney with children have been celebrating with 'trick or treat' for 3 or 4 years now in their local neighbourhood. This weekend news went around that the 'neighbourhood' would not be doing Halloween due to too many from outside the immediate area coming. Apparently word got round about what good 'treats' these few streets had and last year people drove their kids to the area and dropped them off to 'trick or treat' there. Revised and updated links October 2017. |
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