Being Catholic and "Celebrating" Halloween

Welcome (back) to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. 😄 I hope you enjoy your time here.

How is it the middle of October already!? This year is going by so fast. Before we know it, Halloween will be here. *record scratch* Yep. I said Halloween. And I am Catholic. I can see the puzzled looks now.

"Hold on. Can you even do that? How can a Catholic celebrate such a holiday?" Well dear reader, I will tell you. There are a multitude of ways not to celebrate Halloween. But there are also ways that can be fun and even a chance to share the faith. Yeah! True story!

For me when I was growing up, my family did not go trick-or-treating. The elementary school kids in my neighborhood were allowed to wear costumes that were way too scary and leaned toward the bad side of the holiday. So we spent the day with the shades drawn. Depending on what day of the week Halloween was on there was a high likelihood that we would be doing school work anyway. Yay for being Homeschooled! (That was not sarcasm, I actually loved being Homeschooled.) And when I got to a certain age, I think I was about six or seven, my parents taught me the history of Halloween as it relates to All Saints Day. I might make that into a whole post on its own.

When I got a little older, like seven and a half or 8, I started going to HUGE All Saints Day parties. Now I had been dressing up for All Saints Day for a while but later on, in elementary school is when my family really started getting into it. The parties were so fun. I can even remember a couple of times the parties were held at churches and we went to Mass in our costumes. At these parties, we would play games, teach our friends about the saint we had picked for our costume that year, and of course enjoy fall goodies. Apple cider, pumpkin doughnuts and plenty of candies were consumed. For some of the parties, we got to take bags of candy home with us. These celebrations were a yearly thing until I was in high school.

When I was 14, my schooling was much more demanding and I stopped doing as many children's activities. There was also probably a bit of me being "too cool" to dress up. I did not miss it too much though. My friends had also stopped going and my siblings shared the candy they got so it was not a total loss. So I did not go to the parties for a few years. Things changed quite a bit when I became an adult though.

When I was about nineteen or twenty I decided that being "too cool" to dress up and have fun was kinds stupid and if I wanted to do it then gish damn it, I was gonna. For the last few years I have dressed up and it has been so fun! I even dressed up when I was a student-teacher! Oh man, the looks I got from the students and other teachers. 😄 I did not care at all though. It was too much fun not to do it. These costumes I made myself were not saints though. I have been a cat, Queen Elsa, a Hogwarts student (Hufflepuff obvi), and Laura Ingalls Wilder. So how do I reconcile Halloween with also being Catholic?

Well, it has taken a lot of self-reflection and prayer, that is for sure. Like I mentioned before, my parents taught me at a young age why Halloween was a thing. Keeping that knowledge in mind while I am having a good time with my friends is extremely helpful. If I am celebrating anything during Halloween it is friendship. I have taken care to avoid all things demonic and evil. For me, it is just a fall costume party. Yes, I enjoy horror movies. But I do not watch or enjoy ones where evil wins.

I honestly do not know if I would have been capable of "celebrating" Halloween the way I do now when I was a child. It is such a balance of fun and things that can harm you that I am grateful to my parents for going about it the way that they did. I was able to reach a point of maturity where I know what my limits are and how to keep myself safe. The pattern my family took while I was growing up will likely be the template of how I approach this holiday with any kids I have in the future.

What do you think, dear reader? How should Catholics approach Halloween? Am I way off base? I would love to have a dialogue with you.

☀️💙