Santa Cruz Religious Education
Halloween is just around the corner and we at the Religious Education Office want to share some aspects of our Catholic Faith that we feel you should keep in mind.
We want you to encourage you to consider costumes for your children that better reflect our Catholic Faith and not those costumes that glamorize evil or elements of evil. Why not dress up your child as a saint since the day after Halloween is All Saints Day? Or if not, at least dress them up as something or someone that does not glamorize evil. There is enough evil in the world, in television, movies, and video games so why glamorize it through your children?
Keep Halloween in perspective. Halloween means "All Hallows Eve", literally "eve of Saints", the day before All Saints Day. Was evil celebrated on the night of Halloween? Yes, and it continues to be celebrated by some as a night of evil and that is why it is so important to celebrate like a believer and not like them!! Teach your children how to have good clean fun and, as has been mentioned, the way you dress-up your children is crucial to this lesson. In addition, we have a couple of suggestions for you that go beyond the selection of costumes that can help you "Catholicize" Halloween such as a pumpkin prayer for when you carve your pumpkin and a short prayer service you can do with your children before they go out trick-or-treating.
Lastly, do not celebrate Halloween without celebrating the next day, All Saints Day, November 1st A Holy Day of Obligation. Masses at Santa Cruz on November 1 are: 6:30 AM, 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. All of us are obliged to go to Mass on this day because it is on this day that the Church celebrates not only the Saints we know, St John, St. Martin, St. Lucy, and the others, but also the Saints that we don't always celebrate some of whom might be members of our families, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles. Next, don't forget November 2nd, the remembrance of All Souls, wrongly called by some the day of the dead. Why is this a wrong name for this day? Because the dead who die in God's friendship are not dead, they are alive! These souls are souls that are in Purgatory being purified for entry into Heaven. Purgatory is not a place for a second chance, our one chance is here, rather it is Heaven's hospital where those who die in God's friendship, without mortal sin, but who have venial sins that have not been confessed or have not done penance for await to be cleansed of those sins. We can help these souls to be cleansed through our prayers and acts of self-denial but especially by having the Sacrifice of Mass offered for them. All Souls Day is a Holy Day of Obligation but even if you don't go to Mass you should pray for the members of your family that have died because they might be in purgatory awaiting their cleansing.
Have a safe, fun and holy "Eve of All Saints," All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.
Anita Romero and Religious Education Staff and catechists