All Hallow's Eve

First of all, I have to say: the Cardinals rocked the party. Congratulations to the best team in baseball.

Unfortunately, though, that's not what this blog is about. I could talk about the Cardinals all day, but today merits a different subject: Halloween.

In Christian circles, this "holiday" is quite controversial. The gist is: why dress up like the devil and demons and scary things? We don't like those things so our kids shouldn't dress up like them. And so on and so forth.

Halloween suddenly became a big question mark for us now that we're parents. Joel and I had "the halloween talk" a couple weeks ago and came up with a rather interesting solution.

I think there are two frequently used solutions to the "halloween dilemma". Either run scared from the little children portraying the undead, or just shrug and join in the fun.

Neither one of these options really suited Joel and I...although, to be honest, I was leaning toward the first option. Joel reminded me, though, that we're called to re-Christianize the world. So, halloween, get ready: you're about to be evangelized.

We decided to have a small halloween party with our married friends (a couple of whom have babies as well) for a halloween party. No scary candles; just dinner and fellowship. As for the little ghouls that dare to come to our door...well, they'll get candy, but they're not leaving without taking a holy card too. It's not the eve of All Saint's Day for nothing: let's teach these kids about the real meaning of the evening by subtly putting it into their outstretched hands!

While this adaptation of halloween isn't so radical, there's a country out there taking a more active approach. Tonight in Chile, for the sixth year, the "White Feast of All Saints¹" is being celebrated.

The kids wear costumes that give a "positive message", and go out into the streets to collect sweets. They will only go to houses with a white mark of some sort on their doors or fences, indicating that they want to take part in the celebration. To receive sweets, the children must give a "grace" in exchange, which can be a drawing, a joke, a prayer, a flower, a card, etc. When calling at a home they must say: "Sweets for graces."

I love it! I'm wondering if we could do a crusade like this in the US!