Today is "Halloween". What is is all about and what does it really mean?
Are there really demons, ghosts and goblins? Is there such a thing as demonic possession?
Read what the actual author of the movie and book " THE EXORCIST" has to say.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/28/exorcists-secret-message/
Then consider that Halloween is actually the Vigil of the Feast of All Saints.
http://www.calefactory.org/books/goffine/allsaints-nov1.htm
Today is a day of pennance and fasting, and Catholics abstain also from red meat today as an additional way to do pennance for their sins and the sins of all mankind.
We must 'take up our cross' and follow Him. Tomorrow we celebrate the glorious victory of Christ's Cross applied to all the saints in heaven, and that celebration is what the pagan Halloween celebrations are trying to distract from. So what are you really celebrating when you participate in a "Halloween party"?
Doesn't Halloween make fun of and try to destroy the belief that the devil is real, and so are his minions?
Here is what Fr. Dwight Longenecher has to say today on his blog.
"They don't fly on broomsticks or have green skin, ( although come to think of it one witch I knew did have a sick green-ness about the gills, but I think that's because he was a drunk) but they do cast spells and put curses on people and they do worship Satan, and don't be deceived by the 'white magic' lark. There's no such thing. All magic is black magic because of the philosophy behind it: those involved in witchcraft seek power, and anybody who seeks power for it's own sake is bad.
Think of all the wicked people who justify their quest for power by saying it is for a good cause. Almost all evil in the world is caused by people who think they're doing it for a good cause. Not just Darth Vader. Think of the Nazis who really believed the concentration camps were necessary in order to bring about a master race...see what I mean?
So witches, wicca, witchcraft--all that stuff. Yes, it's real.
Furthermore, if you invite diabolical powers into your life. Don't be surprised if they show up, and don't be surprised if, once you've opened Pandora's box you can't get the lid back on. Remember in all the fun that the purpose of Halloween is to scare the spooks away--not invite them in. Dressing up as monsters has the same purpose as putting gargoyles on cathedrals--you're supposed to be scarier than the devil in order to give him the creeps and send him running. So when you carve a jack o'lantern make him scary as you can, but say a prayer as you put him out that he might keep away the real monsters of the night, and if you dress as a ghoul or a ghost or a witch or a warlock remember that you are doing so to creep them out and say a prayer of deliverance from all the dark forces of the world.
And if you come across anyone who takes witchcraft seriously tell them politely that if they summon the devil he will probably come, and that messing with the occult is the spiritual equivalent of an eight year old kid taking a five gallon can of gas into a fireworks warehouse then playing with matches."
Posted by Fr Longenecker at Monday, October 31, 2011
Think about it.
Paul Stramer
