Halloween
October 13, 2024
“I realize that sometimes we have to confront forms of paganism. We do not need a statue of a pagan god to talk about paganism: the very environment, the air we breathe is a gaseous pagan god! And we must preach to this culture in terms of witness, service and faith. And from within we must do it with prayer.”
– Pope Francis, September 28, 2024.
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
Instead of dressing up your kids for Halloween as a fake superhero, popular cultural figure, or monster, how about dressing them up as a saint or angel? Instead of having them trick or treat through demonically themed lawns and front doors, how about having them come to the parish center for Christ-themed fun? This Halloween let’s protect our children and reclaim this festivity from its current godless and even satanic manifestation and return it to its Catholic origins.
On Thursday, October 31st, Holy Redeemer will host our annual “All Hallows Celebration.” Come dressed as your favorite saint. We’ll start at 5pm with guessing who that saint must be, then chow down on all-you-can-eat hotdogs and other goodies, compliments of The Knights of Columbus. Then we’ll begin Trunk or Treating in the northeast parking lot, play saint-inspired games, and eat delicious saintly treats! Never been to a Trunk or Treat? A Trunk or Treat is an alternative to going door-to-door for trick or treating. Volunteers bring their cars to our lot. As kids visit each car, you pass out candy from your car’s trunk. To get into the festive spirit, we’re offering a prize to the car voted “best dressed.” Decorate your vehicle with a Catholic inspired theme (keep it appropriate for all ages, of course!), let us know you’re entering the contest when you sign up online, and you might win a prize! Planning on coming? Your RSVP is encouraged (not obligatory) to help us plan for snacks and prizes. Can you donate candy or other items we need? Can you bring your car for our Trunk or Treat? Volunteer to run a game? Let us know you’re coming and what, if anything, you’re willing to do to help by going to Holy Redeemer’s website and click on the All Hallows button at the bottom of the homepage.
Below I have attached a couple of fantastic articles on Halloween, I hope you’ll take the time to read them.
May Almighty God Bless You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
Let the Servants of Hell Take Note
https://onepeterfive.com/let-the-servants-of-hell-take-note-tomorrow/Charles Fraune - October 30, 2021
What is being much discussed today, as is often the case in mid-to-late October in Catholic circles, is “What to do with Halloween?” I discussed this in an article last week, but there is so much more to say…
This year [2021], the Feast of Christ the King, designated by Pope Pius XI to be celebrated just before Hallowtide, falls directly on the day of Halloween, the Eve of All Saints, for which there is a special Vigil Mass. This convergence can bring a tremendous amount of clarity as to the spiritual status of Halloween in our culture today – a festival for which the excitement in occultic circles has achieved a fever pitch.
As it is an element of Hallowtide, many want to preserve Halloween and purify it of the evil that has latched on to it. As it is an important day in Satanism and witchcraft, many want to abandon it as a mere tradition that no longer has the symbolic power to turn men closer to God. However, we are not at a moment in the history of our culture or country at which we can afford to surrender a day to Satan, nor avoid suffering worse repercussions than we have already suffered from the modern onslaught of the occult.
Hell’s Hijacking of Halloween
Exorcists have been warning about the dangers of Halloween for decades. Halloween is a sort of “magical new year’s eve” during which time Satanists and witches carry out their rituals with a special vigor and determination. Some exorcists have also noted that those who are possessed, and those who are working on a team as assistants to exorcists, are attacked in stronger ways on Halloween.
Can occultists actually benefit and increase in evil by their rituals, in particular on Halloween? The power that Satanists and witches acquire is based on the degree of their connection with the diabolic and the decision by the demon to give or do what is asked. Certain rites bind Satanists and witches more intimately to the demons whom they serve in these rituals. The power of this binding is sin.
The demons are not required to do anything in exchange for rituals and sacrifices, but they choose to do so because it encourages the witches to continue to sin. Since the diabolical realm is very legalistic, they know that, once a Satanist or witch invokes them, that individual is sinning mortally, and the demon is permitted greater access to them, even to the extent of attacking them spiritually or physically. The demons have no power, of course, unless God gives them permission.
The Danger of the Encroaching Occult
When neighborhoods embrace a perverted attention to death and the “spooky,” adorning their homes with dismembered bodies, images of torture, figures headed toward damnation, horror and blood-lust, or mockery of the sacred, the servants of Hell are done a great favor. None of these images serve to orient the soul that beholds them toward Heaven and a greater desire for holiness. Instead, all of these images serve to frighten and instill fear, to harm the mind of the impressionable and to illicit anxiety and sadness.
It is in emotional reactions such as these, particularly in those who do not seek to be pleasing to God, nor pray to Him, that the demons who roam the earth can find their entry points. Fear disturbs the mind and makes man inclined to evil: sin and superstition, magic and control over the world, quick fixes to their problems. This is so because, without God, we tend toward despair, believing that there is nowhere for us to turn for aid and comfort.
The demons present themselves as the solution to the problems which burden men, if the latter will simply bind themselves to them by worship or sacrifice. Demons offer and are able to grant men power and earthly fortune and success. This comes at the cost of their souls, of course, for they demand that the person commits a mortal sin in order to receive their assistance, and the act of invoking a demon is itself a mortal sin. At a time when the youth and the rest of the culture which have become spiritually unmoored from the One True God, we can understand why this offer of assistance from the diabolical is so intriguing to them.
Here is another fantastic article on the origins of Halloween called The Season of the Dead: The origins and practice of Allhallowtide. www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/10/24/the-season-of-the-dead-the-origins-and-practice-of-allhallowtide/
