Letter from the Pastor
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October 26, 2025Autumn is a season of change. The muggy, stifling summer air becomes crisp and cool; trees become a dazzling color of yellows, oranges, and reds; and everything becomes pumpkin spice from coffee to ravioli; and, of course, the celebration of Halloween, which is this Friday.
Halloween used to be fun and innocent, pumpkins, costumes and trick or treating. Halloween has gotten more intense over time; with homes decorating their front lawns with fake bloodstains to animated skeletons and zombies scaring the daylights out of the kids. Some parents think Halloween is becoming too scary for their little ones.
Parents are sharing videos of their children yelling and falling to the floor in utter terror as towering mechanical monsters pop out at them, even the deer and bears run away.
Social scientists think as people become more exposed to and desensitized by graphic images through social media, TV, and movies, it is making it harder to get a good scare, thus the intensity of the blood and guts. Severed heads and limbs, bloodbaths on the lawn are now “decorations”, instead of ghosts and goblins.
There is a difference between the macabre (=depictions of death and its gruesomeness) and the depiction of evil and hell. Churches, for example, are filled with depictions of the death of Christ on the Cross. Stained-glass windows and the Stations of the Cross bring reminders of the suffering and brutality, which the world has inflicted upon the Lord and His followers. There is a difference. The Death of the Lord brought life. Death for the sake of death is morose and offers no purpose.
So be careful of being enticed by the mysterious evil in this world, which today, seems to reach a fever pitch at Halloween. What sort of decorations do you have on your front lawn? After all, Halloween parades, house parties, or trunk and treats are fun and should be enjoyed by the family.
Halloween, remember, is the first of three celebrations of feasts in the Church:
All Hallows Eve followed the next day by the Solemnity of All Saints then followed by
All Souls.
Please note since All Saints Day falls on a Saturday this year, there is no obligation to attend Mass; however, I do encourage you to go to Mass and thank God for the saints, with our hope of joining them. Masses on Saturday will be 9:00 AM and 12 Noon.
The Saints are our friends and help us along the way of life to God in Heaven.