Halloween: Good And Scary

"Be happy if you have to work hard to stay close to God," said Jesus. "God's kingdom, heaven, belongs to you. Don't worry if you're sad; God will comfort you. Be happy if you're humble and want to follow God; God will be close to you. If you forgive other people, God will forgive you. If you work for peace, you'll be called children of God! Even if people hurt you for believing in God, be happy, because you'll go to heaven."

This weekend is Halloween - the day before All Saints' Day, when Catholics remember saints like St. Peter and St. Francis, and then All Souls' Day, when we remember people who have gone to heaven.

Of course, Halloween is also a day for kids to wear costumes and get candy. Halloween can be scary for some kids, though: Just when you're excited about your costume and can't wait for fun with your friends, you also see decorations on people's houses that creep you out, scary movies on TV and weird costumes that are not fun.

It's good to read this week's Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12) around Halloween. In it, Jesus promises that even when you're surrounded by bad and scary things, the good will win out over the bad. This teaching of Jesus' is also called the "Beatitudes."

It's easy to get distracted by scary stuff at Halloween. You want to just enjoy trick-or-treating, parties and costumes; instead, you see people covered with fake blood or dressed as vampires, and houses with real-looking ghosts hanging outside.

But just as the good parts of Halloween outweigh the bad, Jesus promised that whatever bad stuff is going on - whether you're lonely, angry or don't feel close to God - will all end someday. In heaven, Jesus said, all the things you worry about now will seem silly. In the same way, the day after Halloween, you won't even think about ghosts and werewolves!

(10/29/09)