I love Halloween and I’m looking forward to seeing how it is celebrated here on Tybee.  There are some Fundamentalist Christians who think that Halloween celebrates evil and should be banned. But I think just the opposite is true!  It may have some roots in an ancient pagan festival for the dead and perhaps this autumn feast can be used for evil purposes, buy our culture celebrates it as an innocent night of begging and fun. We who believe in the light of the world can use it to celebrate the Light. "Hallow" means holy and the word Halloween refers to the night before the feast of all holies, or All Saints Day.
During the middle Ages, Christians would gather in Churches for worship. They would recall the saints' victories over evil. At some of these services, the Churches would put on little plays in which they acted out Jesus' victory over Satan and his forces. The actors would wear unusual masks and costumes to act out the story.  Our prep children will “echo” this tradition before and after the 11:00 this weekend.
So, when Christians celebrate Halloween, we are really recalling that Jesus has defeated evil by His death and resurrection. We remind ourselves that with the power of FAITH and God's GRACE we can overcome evil, too.  We too can one day be counted among the saints!  In fact, in Catholic theology we should already consider ourselves as members of the Communion of Saints.  Our relationships within the Body of Christ are at the heart of who we are as a Catholic people.  Our calling as the Body of Christ is to become involved in the lives of our fellow Catholics – and to let them become involved with us. The call of the Body of Christ is to be personal with one another, intimate with one another; channels of God’s grace for one another.
Since this is the night before All Saints Day, it is a great idea to explore the family saints. Let your children find out who their patron saints are and why they are so honored. They may even choose to dress up like St. Joan of Arc, St. Francis of Assisi or St. George the Dragon Slayer.  They could have fun letting their friends guess who they are by giving clues about their saint's life...for a treat of course!
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ALL SAINTS DAY, Tuesday, NOVEMBER 1 - HOLYDAY OF OBLIGATION-This year we celebrate the Feast of All Saints on Wednesday, November 1st. This annual celebration in the Church reminds us that we are all called to be saints. On this day we honor not just the many canonized saints but also all those who have gone before us and are now in Heaven, where all of us hope to be one day. This Feast demonstrates the great respect we have for holy men and holy women of the past.  Honoring the Saints reminds us of our own goal of attaining Heaven as a reward for our efforts in living out the Gospel of Jesus in our everyday lives!  In addition to the normal 8:00am Mass, there will also be 6:00 pm Mass.  If neither of these Masses fit in with your work schedule, please let me know and I’ll consider a time change for the next Holyday.
 
ALL SOULS DAY, Thursday, NOVEMBER 2 – On all Souls Day we pray for all our deceased loved ones, for those who one day will join the saints in heaven.  But one can only be fully embraced by God’s love when the soul is pure and free from all sin.  With God’s grace and the prayers of those who love us, we figure this out in Purgatory.  Remembering the souls of the faithful departed, and praying for them, as the second book of Maccabees states, is a “holy and wholesome thought.”  St. Ambrose further exhorts us: "We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them until we have conducted them by our prayers into the House of the Lord."  Those listed on our remembrance scroll and the names of your loved ones written on the back of the All Souls Remembrance Envelope will be remembered at the 8am Mass on this day and indeed at all Masses throughout the month of November.
 
Finally, don’t forget to fall back.  Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 5th.  Set your clocks before you go to bed next Saturday or else you’ll be showing up an hour early for Mass, which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world – getting a little extra prayer time.  
Happy Halloween and All Saints!!!!

Fr. Jerry Ragan