The Tale of Jack O'Lantern

Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.

One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."

The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub.

The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.

He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.

"Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"

The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!

And speaking of jack ' lanterns, check out this carving:



Praised be Jesus Christ Now and Forever.

Front Yard Displays

There's no question that Halloween has become big business for the folks who sell home decorations for this "holiday". Years ago a simple pumpkin carved with a happy face or perhaps a spray of Indian Corn would have been more than sufficient for those who chose to acknowledge the day.

Now you're more likely to find gigantic blow up pumpkins, witches and all sorts of creatures. There are Halloween lights to rival any Christmas display. People actually turn their front lawns into graveyards, complete with skeletons and the decaying dead.

Perhaps it's time for Catholics to take control of the message we send. Time to put the Halloween spectacle to use in evangelizing. Here is an idea, I will bring you others, but try to use your own creativity to make a Catholic statement.


Front Yard Displays




Above is an example of a Christian tombstone that is commercially available. You can customize it with a yard sign by it's side. This is not our product, but if you click on the image or here, you'll be taken to the site.

We have more ideas coming. Come and check this blog often...

But, please feel free to add your own and share it with The Catholic Christian Community

We WILL reclaim Halloween in the Name and Light of Christ Jesus. Fiat!

God bless.

Should Catholics Celebrate Halloween?

Every fall Catholics who are serious about their faith have the same questions.

Should I allow my child to celebrate Halloween?

What about Halloween parties at school?

Should I give out candy on Halloween?

The Halloween "holiday" dilemma seems to get worse with every passing year.

Halloween has become a big business secular holiday that comes close to rivaling Christmas for the level of decoration and preparation.

Needless to say, this is an alarming trend for Catholics, particularly those who are parents and grandparents. It is an event that has become even more unwholesome and actually evil in aspect. The notion of sending innocent and impressionable children out into a night dressed as demons and witches to beg for candy at the homes of strangers is hair-raising to even the most jaded of Catholics.

Perhaps some readers will think that we are a little over the top on this one. And perhaps not. When our son, now a seminarian, was a small child, we participated in Halloween decorating. I'm sorry now that we did, but it was a learning process. One year I fashioned a somewhat cheerful witch figure and attached it to a tree. Our little son was so upset that he wouldn't go to sleep until we took it down, placed it in a garbage can and put heavy cinder blocks on top of it. As "cheerful" as it was, this innocent child recognized it for what it was. Evil.

As he grew older and reached adolescence, he had decisions to make. Some of them revolved around celebrating Halloween with his peers. I wanted him to begin to learn to make his own moral judgments. I told him, quite simply, everything in this world either brings you closer to God and your salvation, or a step away from Him and onto the path that leads to temptation and destruction. Use this as your scale and judge your activities wisely. He did. Not always as I might have wished him to choose, but the scale on which to weigh his choices was presented to him and since then he has used it, even if in retrospect.

Again, this might seem extreme to many of our readers, but as our Catholic life has progressed and our spirituality deepened, we've come to see some things much more clearly than we did years ago.

We do believe that participation in any activity related to the occult or anything even vaguely related to the devil opens the door a tiny crack to a flood of wrong thinking and wrong actions. That includes the activities that our modern society have come to include in this end-of-October holiday.

For little ones, Halloween is a training ground for more dangerous activities as they grow older. Dressing up like a demon, a vampire, or Harry Potter glorifies the dark one. Even cute little ghost stories begin to instill the belief in the occult -- and the seduction away from the Catholic faith begins.

In short, it doesn't bring you closer to God.

As your children reach adolescence and their teen-aged years, think about the activities they engage in at Halloween gatherings, parties and outings.

If they go out into the streets, there will, no doubt, be mischief. No, it's not innocent. The "fun" activities of egging, flour-sock attacks, shaving cream and worse can cause damage to property and worse yet, injury to others. In truth, these are sins that are not likely to be confessed ... all to the damage of their souls.

At parties, there might be ouija boards, tarot cards, or séances. All in "fun" -- and all opening the door for the dark one to enter.

Teen-agers might gather to watch bloody horror movies, many featuring the "undead" in horrifying detail. Again, I pose the question - does it bring you closer to God or another step away from Him?

Do any of these activities encourage the practice of virtue? Or do they lead to temptation?
There are solutions for the Catholic family, whether or not you have children in your home, or if you are an adult who will have to make the decision as to whether you will answer your door when little children, carrying axes and dripping blood, come looking for candy.

We invite you to explore some of the alternatives we've put together and see what works for you.

As this blog progresses we will include links to help you learn more about how you can turn Halloween into an opportunity to "quietly" but effectively evangelize your Catholic faith and keep your sanity.



And just in case you're still reading and taking us seriously ... it never hurts to have a Saint Benedict* medal over your door ... some holy water on hand and a sprinkling of Blessed Salt over your doorstep.

In the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit. Amen