First off a joke for those programmers among you.<\/p>\n
Why do Programmers get Halloween and Christmas confused?<\/p>\n
Because oct<\/a>\u00a031 = dec<\/a>\u00a025<\/p>\n I am not one of those who freaks out about Halloween. \u00a0I certainly have very fond memories of Halloween as a kid. There are though some trends that annoy me.<\/p>\n Halloween seems to get pumped up more and more each year. \u00a0In the past you might have seen some light decorations which mainly consisted of jack-o-lanterns. \u00a0 There was a very small minority of people who would elevate their decorations to a higher degree. \u00a0Now it is much more common to see houses and their lawns decorated and now there are even Halloween Light shows.<\/p>\n I realize that it is now the semi-eqivalency between Halloween and Christmas that annoys me, it is that the commercialization for Halloween is approaching the commercialization of Christmas. \u00a0Before you could see tacky inflatable Christmas decorations and now we have tacky inflatable Halloween decorations. \u00a0 Halloween Wreaths have also appeared in stores. \u00a0You hardly see kids wearing anything but a store-bought costume.<\/p>\n Maybe this is just merchandiser relativism in going after anything that brings in a buck. \u00a0But I want Christmas to be much more commercial than Halloween since Christmas is much more important! \u00a0How dare they start to have commercial parity. Oh wait – maybe that isn’t exactly what I mean. But I won’t turn myself into a “holiday” movie by telling you about the real meaning of Christmas. Just start with Luke and read through.<\/p>\n I just glad Linus of Peanuts was unsuccessful \u00a0in promoting “The Great Pumpkin” as a commercial venture. \u00a0Good thing Halloween doesn’t have a fantasy person like the Santa Claus as given us by Coca-Cola. \u00a0Glad they didn’t subvert another one of our saints for commercial reasons. \u00a0Bishop \u00a0St. Nicholas and the various St. Valentines must get teased about this all the time in Heaven. Though it is rather ironic that the vigil for the Feast of All Saints didn’t get this treatment. \u00a0On second thought maybe it would be a good thing if Halloween had such a character – that way Tim Allen could stop making worse-and-worse Christmas movies and move on to worse-and-worse\u00a0 Halloween movies.<\/p>\n How long before we start getting “family movies” with the premise of a family learning the “real” meaning of Halloween? Though I guess I shouldn’t snipe to much at anything that promotes the importance of family no matter how trite.<\/p>\n Though speaking of the truth of Halloween, here is a link I have posted before. \u00a0An article by Father Augustine Thompson, O.P<\/a>. on what Mark Shea would call Pseudo-Knowledge in that All Saint’s Day was a baptism of a Pagan holiday to override it.<\/p>\n So if you are going to have some fun on Halloween or watch a horror movie or two, just remember as a vigil we are to get ready for the Feast of All Saints, those great exemplars provided for us to grow in holiness. Especially the following Feast of All Souls.<\/p>\n