Last week, I received an invitation to a Halloween get-together from a good friend. My initial reply to her invitation was this:
"We usually have an All Saints' Day party instead. Hehe! The kids still get dressed up and get lots of candy! Hahaha!"
It was only after I had pressed "Reply" did I realize that my response may have sounded a bit "holier than thou" and self-righteous, which was not my intention. That's why I followed up my reply with other comments -- I didn't want to offend my friend and the other people in the online conversation.
The whole incident just made me reflect again on who I am and what I say -- "Am I being Christ-like in all I think, say and do? Or do I come off as judgmental or 'religiously superior' to others?" I really hope and pray it's more of the former than the latter, though, to be perfectly honest, I am ashamed to admit that sometimes it's the latter that happens. (Insert sad sigh here.) I am sincerely sorry for it.
Having said that, I am not ashamed to say though that we do strive to make Halloween a bit "holier" for our kids. Taking off from the roots of the term Halloween, which is "All Hallows' Eve," or the eve of All Saints' Day, we've tried to get our kids to focus more on the "saint-ly" side of the celebration, rather than the creepy, ghostly, ghoulish side of it, which the secular world tends to focus on. (Again, no offense meant to anyone.)
So how do we prepare for a "holier" Halloween? Here are a few suggestions for those who are inclined to do so:
1. Days before October 31, explain to your child that the word Halloween actually came from the old English term "All Hallows' Eve," meaning the eve before "All Hallows" or All Saints' Day. If your family observes the celebration of All Saints' Day, as many Catholic Christians do, base your explanation on the teachings of your faith. A simple online search can help make this easier for you. Tell your child that God calls all of us to be saints,and we can become so -- little by little -- by doing "small things with big love."
2. On All Hallows' Eve, i.e. Halloween, try to visit a chapel or church before you go trick-or-treat-ing - if doing the latter is a tradition in your family. Say a prayer to all the saints and ask for their intercession. You can opt to do this at home too, especially if you can't drop by a church.
3. If your family is into trick-or-treat-ing, ask your kids if they'd like to try dressing up as saints. Help them choose a saint and get costume ideas from sites like CatholicIcing.com and CatholicInspired.com. Try to get everyone in the family excited about this -- you may even want to have your own simple saint costume.
4. If your child has a patron saint, remind him or her about who it is and show him or her pictures or kids' videos about that particular saint. Download free coloring pages of the saint(s) from online sites and encourage your kid to color them.
5. Read children's books or stories about saints. You can buy such books from stores like St. Paul's or Paulines. The Learning Basket also has a book of saints for sale at this link: http://shop.thelearningbasket.com/index.php/652/104/books/P-children-s-book-of-saints-hardcover. If you're up to it, you can also try looking for saints books at stores like Book Sale or Books for Less.
6. If your kids like to watch videos -- and let's be honest, most kids do -- you can also try searching for "saints videos for kids" or "saints cartoons" on YouTube. Choose one or two videos and preview them first before you show them to your kids to make sure they are age-appropriate. Talk about the video with your kids afterwards.
I hope these suggestions will be useful to you. Whether you choose to try one, all or none of them, I pray you and yours have a blessed All Hallows' Eve celebration this month!
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