Halloween is a Catholic holiday celebrated on the evening before All Saints Day. In fact, the very name Halloween comes from the contraction “All Hallow’s Eve.” Not only is it just ‘okay’ to celebrate Halloween and All Saints Day, our Church has made it a  holy day of obligation to celebrate the communion of saints in heaven! You can celebrate this feast by coming to Mass on the evening of October 31 or on All Saints Day (our Mass times are listed below).
 

But what about the other activities associated with Halloween? We should recognize that some cultural elements of Halloween are not inherently evil or satanic: (1) Dressing up in ghoulish costumes reminds us of Christ’s victory over sin and evil…you may also consider dressing up as a saint! (2) Jack-o-lanterns are just carved out pumpkins filled with light that we can use to symbolize the light of Christ. (3) Trick-or-treat can be an awesome way of being Catholic in the world, of evangelizing visitors that come to our houses in proclaiming by sign and symbol that there is a spiritual world and a  communion of saints that reveals a God who loves us and has power over death and evil.