Keep "Hallow" in Halloween!

Now, that’s a bumper sticker I want to see, and I wouldn’t be shy about displaying it this time of year on the posterior of the family minivan, the anterior of which is lovingly adorned with the ubiquitous rearview mirror rosary, the middle of which is filled with any number of giggling be-costumed children, usually our own.  The secular culture –as well as many Catholics, it seems—has forgotten that All Hallows’ Eve is a night of merriment prior to the feast of All Saints/Hallows Day on November 1^st.  I think it’s time to start reminding ourselves and our children.  Ironically, worrying that Halloween was a “pagan” celebration is allowing it to turn into one.

Many local Christian cultures throughout the ages have gone door-to-door for treats on the eve of various Christian feasts, not only Halloween.  But it has been fashionable for some time to claim that Christianity placed the feast of All Saints on November 1^st in order to co-opt the Druidic celebration of Samhain, which involved dressing in costume and going door-to-door.  It is less fashionable to point out that there was no reason to do this because All Saints Day for the entire Church was declared by Pope Gregory sometime in the early 700s, three centuries after Ireland had already been thoroughly converted by Saint Patrick.  There was no need to sneak Christianity in the back door; it had long since been let in through the front.  But regardless of history, every Halloween, Catholic blogs are peppered here and there with comments likening the practice of trick-or-treating to cooperating with the pervasive “culture of death,” and/or reveling in pagan practices, and urging us to close our curtains and pretend we’re not home on this supposed evening of satanic worship.  I understand where the hand-wringing comes from; as Christians, we are called to do everything with Christ in view, and we wonder how He can fit into this oversexed and black picture painted for us by countless fly-by-night costume stores that sprout up every September.  I see a clue in one of my favorite hymns, which was just recently played at a colleague’s memorial service:

I danced on a Friday when the world turned black 
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back 
They buried my body, they thought I was gone 
But I am the dance, and the dance goes on 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be 
I am the lord of the dance, said he 
And I lead you all, wherever you may be 
And I lead you all in the dance, said he 

They cut me down and I leapt up high 
I am the life that will never, never die 
I'll live in you if you'll live in me 
I am the Lord of the dance, said he 

Christ is not just joy, He is absolute bliss, even dancing out of death.  And, all of the saints in the canon, whom we celebrate on November 1^st now live in this bliss as they followed our Lord's lead in the great dance.  Most importantly, these were just flawed, regular people like you and I!  Some of them were even more irascible than I can be.  (A FEW, my husband reminds me.)  Because Jesus died, rose and opened the gates to heaven, we can actually hope and strive to be there ourselves someday.  If that isn’t reason enough to laugh at sting-less death, to stick it in the devil’s eye, and to eat tons and tons of candy, I don’t know what is.

Are there certain practices of the secular version of our holiday we should not assimilate?  Sure.  When the choices your 7-year-old has for costumes at iParty are “Sexy Police Officer,” “Sexy Maid,” “Sexy Igor” (?), “Sexy Vampire,” and “Sexy Undertaker,” you might Catholically consider turning to an ancient Druidic practice after all:  Making Your Own Costume.  Some Catholic families dress up as saints for Halloween, which can be a helpful practice for tying the festivities of Hallows’ Eve in with the actual holiday it anticipates, All Saints Day.  But, as long as we don’t sink into the deeply disturbing macabre, a veneration of gore itself and the antithesis of true Hallows’ Eve, I also see nothing wrong with allowing children to dress up as ghosts and goblins and go “boo!” at each other in mockery of “all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls” (Prayer to St. Michael).  As long as we dance the Lord’s dance they can’t touch us in the end.  Speaking of Saint Michael, even he mocks the devil by his very name, a rhetorical and almost sarcastic question as he closes the gates of hell on him, “Who is like God?”  Seriously, Satan?  You close the curtains and pretend you aren’t home.  More candy for us.

Top 15 Non-Catholic Songs That Are Catholic*

Even St. Jerome can't resist these beats.  Okay, maybe somewhere up there King David has to prod him into it a little.  Crack a smile, Jerry.

For a blur of time that may have been years, the audio atmosphere of my mini-van was composed alternately of talk radio punctuated by brief periods of silence on rare solo drives, or the cacophony of three small children with varying grasps of grammar and vocabulary belting out "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5 (long story).  It was only on rare occasions I would scan through FM radio, most new songs being unfamiliar and undesirable territory that I'd simply skip past.  But, this year while driving alone I've found myself hanging out in the FM a bit more often, realizing in the middle of things that I'm singing some secular anthem as if it were a glorious hymn, wing-delivered by dove, because the song speaks to me of Jesus and the Church.  This would probably cause some of the artists --not to mention some fellow Catholics-- a shudder of horror on principle, on the songs not being intended that way.  But, I can't help myself.  If God wants to surprise me on Kiss 108 FM every now and then, who am I to tell Him to get back on my Gregorian chant CD where He belongs?  We should probably worry more about where we don't see God than where we do.

Before anyone readies the pillory, know that I don't mean to suggest these tunes are up there with Bach, or the lyrics are the Hound of Heaven, or that listening to the entire Billboard 100 is a mystical experience.  There are too many warped songs on the mainstream airwaves, and there is still an awful lot of skipping that goes on when I'm listening to the radio --too much for any passenger to stand!  I'm not endorsing any artists as role models or suggesting anyone watch their performances; I don't know enough about either and I'm not interested for the most part.  But I do know that amidst all the noise and unredeemable cheer-leading for the "culture of death" are some releases of the past couple years that discerning Catholics can reclaim from the rocky shallow end and toss out into the floating freedom of the daring deep if the spirit moves them.  Merry mischief-making!  If nothing else, at least it may turn your teen toward classical music as she tries to avoid being locked in a car with you dancing to her station.

*  This very list is also reason #3 on the Top Three Reasons I Will Never Make Church Choir.  (Reasons #1 and #2 are:  I sort of have a male's singing voice in a woman's body, and, also, I have the vocal range of a goose, respectively.  Runner-up for #3 is I can't read music.)  Incidentally,this list is also reason #1 why my own adult stepdaughter will not friend me on Facebook.

Top 15 Pop Songs of 2000-2014 That Didn't Mean to Be Catholic But Are

A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay:  I wanted to dislike this song for its generic club track feel when I first heard it.  But, to my annoyance and then joy it quickly pulled me in with simple lyrics that crystallize absolute surrender in love to Christ who consumes us.  "'Cause you're a sky, 'cause you're a sky full of stars/ I wanna die in your arms/ 'Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark/ I'm gonna give you my heart/ I don't care, go on and tear me apart/ I don't care if you do/ 'Cause in a sky, in a sky full of stars/ I think I see you."

A Thousand Years by Christina Perri:  "How to be brave?/  How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?/  But watching you stand alone/ All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow/ One step closer..."  This could be a sweet dialogue between Jesus and any one of us, a response to the gentle but unrelenting invitation to approach the Lord on the altar and be cleansed.  And, naturally, the song is equally beautiful as a love song between two souls meeting each other on their way to living their vocation of marriage.  As the Bible demonstrates, it's no accident that many songs which illuminate self-giving love between spouses and the indissoluble union that is a sacramental marriage also work perfectly as songs between ourselves and Christ.  Sing them to your spouse and to God; they are for both.

Babel by Mumford and Sons:  Look at the title.  "I know my weakness/ Know my voice/ And I believe in grace and choice."

Best Day of My Life by American Authors:  Maybe there are a few oddball lines, but the unleashed, rollicking laughter of the music and the tickling of the strings makes me want to burst out and swing around at least 3 kids and a couple monkeys.  I'm pretty sure Jesus felt like that frequently, though the Master of joy didn't need a ridiculous song to get there.  You know young St. Francis would totally roll down a grassy hill to this song.  How great is the refrain for receiving a sacrament, baptism, marriage, holy orders --or the Eucharist!  Isn't every day you receive the Eucharist the best day of your life?  Don't you want to dance up the aisle sometimes?  "This is gonna be the best day of my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife/ My li-i-i-i-i-ife."

Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley:  Hmm.  Maybe this one was Catholic almost on purpose, considering all the Biblical allusions.  It's a piercing but, I think, potentially hopeful song in that the character is realizing, through painful experience, that love is not merely a feeling but a choice, or a series of daily choices.  No matter how broken you are, there is hope once you realize what love is Not and start turning yourself to what it Is:  laying down one's life for another (John 15:13).

Halo by Beyonce Knowles:  Truly fitting for that moment it dawns in you that not only was Jesus not a charlatan, he was also not simply a "good man" or "wise teacher" who lived over 2,000 years ago; rather, He's actually the living God incarnate who has come for YOU.  "Everywhere I'm looking now/ I'm surrounded by your embrace/ Baby, I can see your halo/ You know you're my saving grace."  It's so much more messy and thrilling than when we try to keep God at arm's length.  Listen to it while driving in the pouring rain if you can, and hear the thousands of knees falling to the ground.  "I pray it won't fade away" --This one line reminds me of what Tolkien says about the resurrection:  "There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits."  It's too Good to be true, but it is True!  It can be very moving to wrest this song from the emptiness of the "throwaway culture" and offer Beyonce's beautiful voice to God who gave it to her and from Whom all beauty comes.

Happy by Pharrell Williams:  Easter!  Death, where is your sting?  "Here come bad news, talkin this and that/ Well, give me all you got and don't hold it back/ I should probably warn you I'll be just fine/ No offense to you, don't waste your time/ Cuz I'm happy"

I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons:  It's the best Advent song of the last, er, two years.  Also, the way I see it, it's a song that works as well for singing of sanctifying grace between spouses or as a prayer of the consecrated religious to the Lord.  It is a rousing and triumphant song for all the Church Militant, for anyone who puts God before himself, caught up in a Love so overcoming he has to pray for the strength for his heart to even bear it.  "Bow my head/ Keep my heart slow/ 'Cause I will wait/ I will wait for you!"

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men:  This song is Pope Benedict's "dictatorship of relativism" in action, a couple virtually destroyed by living the lies of the world.  But, somewhere in the background is the Barque of Peter that just might save them.  "Though the truth may vary/ This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore."

Pompeii by Bastille:  In every age, at some time or another it feels like the world must be coming to an end, whether by natural disaster or war or schism or anything else we don't have control over.  But, despite the chorus's "How am I gonna be an optimist about this?" there's some strange hope in all of it.  Yes, remember to be an optimist.  And remember, too, that the world hasn't ended any of those times.  Yes, for the dead this world ended; but, we know that death is not the final word.  For those left behind?  Rebuild.  "Where do we begin?/ The rubble or our sins?"  Build up the kingdom.  Cherish that indestructible gem of a Church that holds fast in every era and emerges from the wreckage perhaps smaller at times, but always brighter and stronger.

Shake it Out by Florence + The Machine:  This could be the soundtrack for wrestling with starting on the path to conversion.  Wrestling and winning, then losing, then winning, losing... "It's hard to dance with the devil on your back, so shake him off."

Speed of Sound by Coldplay:  We are engulfed in mystery upon mystery.  Sometimes it is hard to quiet the mind and just be immersed.  "The sign that I couldn't read/ Or a light that I couldn't see/ Some things you have to believe/ But others are puzzles, puzzling me."  Other times we can get out of our own way enough to know things we can't explain.  "If you could see it then you'd understand."

Viva la Vida by Coldplay:  How Biblical:  A sham ruler of a sham kingdom not built on God's word is blindsided and left with nowhere else to turn but to Him.  See my previous post with more on this song.

You Are A Tourist by Death Cab for Cutie:  The name of the band should be an automatic disqualifier.  Who would have thought the Holy Spirit could be found in Death Cab for Cutie?  "When there's a burning in your heart/ An endless yearning in your heart/ Build it bigger than the sun/ Let it grow/ Let it grow/ When there's a burning in your heart/ Don't be alarmed."  Ready for an extreme sport?  Pentecost is S-C-A-R-Y.  Dive in!  No bungee cords allowed.

Boom Clap by Charli XCX:  This one is out of alphabetical order, you say?  Okay, maybe I hid it at the bottom of the list because I'm a bit embarrassed.  It's for the teeny bopper in all of us.  If the Lord doesn't make you go weak in the knees maybe you should visit Him more often.  If St. Augustine can "pant for [God]," then God can make my heart go "BOOM, CLAP," okay?  "Just tell me what to do/ I'll fall right into you."

You're welcome, screen-writers for Sister Act Three.

Of Baptisms and Bigotry



Post-publication update:  I received several notes and spoken words of vigorous agreement on the version of this post that appeared in my local newspaper.  To my joy, a lot of the kudos even came from people who are not Catholic, but who see the sense in the position.  Thank you!  However, in re-reading my writing below, I believe I was woefully unclear about one critical point and I hope I did not accidentally skew anyone's understanding.  When reading this post, please keep in mind, a child is never refused baptism in the Catholic Church due to the sins of the parents, whatever they may be.  (That would be kind of contrary to the point of baptism, wouldn't it!)  Parishes, of course, may have certain requirements for baptizing as well as for other sacraments, a most logical one being that the one receiving baptism, first communion, etc., must be a member of the parish and regular attendee of Mass for a certain amount of time prior.  Among other things, this is an indication that the parishioner truly believes the Catholic faith and also it is preparation for receiving the sacrament.  Not being registered at a parish and not attending Mass are valid reasons for a delay in receiving baptism, matrimony, etc.  The remedy for this is for families to register with a parish and become active in Catholic life.  With this clarification in mind, read on! 


In my local newspaper there is a "Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down" section where people air important compliments or grievances anonymously and succinctly, such as, "Thumbs down to my jerk of a neighbor.  Your shrubs are ugly!  Stop uglifying my street!" or "Thumbs up, snugglepuff!  Good job at the mini-golf tournament last weekend!  Great strategizing on the spinning monkey hole."  There has recently been a spate of Thumbs Down comments regarding a local Catholic church that declined to baptize a baby whose parents are not registered with the parish and do not attend Mass.  The comments have gradually become more anti-Catholic over the weeks.  For example:

“Thumbs up to the parents of the baby who St. Kathryn’s won’t baptize, and therefore, won’t be raised Catholic.  I’m sad that you are going through this mess, but in the long run, do you really want your child raised in the Catholic faith given the issues they have had with pedophiles?  I’m a non-practicing Catholic myself who stopped going to church when I realized how messed up the church really was.  I would have my child baptized by another Christian group instead.”

Thumbs up to not being raised a Catholic!  Stay away from those messed up pedophiles, snugglepuff!  They don't even trim their ugly shrubs!

I submitted a response to the newspaper vitriol as a letter to the editor, which was published here.  I kept the letter brief in order to fit within the publishing parameters.  Below is an expanded version.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shrubs to tend.

..............

Thumbs Down to Intolerant Comments About the Catholic Church

The repeated anti-Catholic “thumbs down” comments arising because St. Kathryn’s church refused to baptize a child whose parents do not plan to raise him/her in the Catholic faith are misguided and an affront to Catholics and to logic itself.  Does it make any sense for parents to baptize a child in a Catholic church while they do not attend Mass and intend to continue being absent from Mass each weekend?  Catholics are required by their very religion to attend Mass every week and on holy days of obligation.  When we don’t, we are called to recognize our sin, confess, and return.  The parents of the child do not attend Mass and apparently do not intend to do so going forward, otherwise baptism would have been allowed in the future.  The simple remedy for the parents is to start attending Mass –exercising their faith-- if they want their child baptized in the Catholic Church.  It is not for the priest to change the religion to suit them.  Our creed says we believe in “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”  If you do not believe in the Church’s teachings and do not attempt to follow them, why would you want to have a Catholic baptism?  Is it a good luck charm?  An excuse for having a party?  Something that requires no action on the part of parents, like the event of baby’s first tooth?  “Aw, look, baby is baptized!  Isn’t that precious.”  Catholics believe baptism is a sacrament, a holy and intimate moment between humankind and God.  It’s not simply a photo op for baby in a cute formal outfit.

Railing against St. Kathryn’s for not baptizing a baby whose family essentially intends not to be Catholic is like calling Dunkin Donuts intolerant for refusing to hire someone who intends never to sell donuts.  It’s like calling the police department hateful for firing an officer who refuses to fight crime.  It’s like calling King Arthur narrow-minded for not knighting someone who says he won’t defend Camelot.  There are certain things that Catholics are supposed to DO, just like there are certain things Dunkin Donuts employees or police officers or knights are supposed to DO.  The priest who won’t baptize is not saying God does not love that family; he’s not saying Jesus is not available to them; he’s not saying they are going to Hell!  He’s saying he will not make someone promise to raise a child in a Catholic family when they do not intend to raise the child in a Catholic family.  Attending Mass and being part of a parish family is a very basic and essential part of being a Catholic.  If you ask a priest for a Catholic baptism to enter your child into the Catholic faith and in the same breath tell him you do not intend to try and function as a Catholic, isn’t there a gaping logical contradiction there?  “I want my child to be Catholic but I do not want to be Catholic.”  In that situation a priest, if he is faithful and wise, encourages the parents to return to the Catholic faith before baptism is granted.

Imagine the awkward situation a couple would be faced with if a priest did allow a baptism in this case!  As part of a baptism ceremony the parents and godparents promise out loud in front of witnesses to raise the child in the Catholic faith.  Why would anyone want to lie about that --in a church no less?  If you believe the Catholic religion is wrong (for example about attending Mass), then why do you want to stand in a church holding your innocent baby and proclaiming that it is right, against your own conscience?  If you do not believe the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass –the "source and summit" of the Catholic religion—is important, then why stand up and say you do?  Why set yourself up to dishonor not only the Church but even your own beliefs?  Whatever happened to being true to oneself?  What is the point of forcing yourself to say things you do not believe?  Religion should never be coerced, not by one person to another, not by a government to a people, and not by a phony part of yourself to your true self.  If you believe Catholicism is wrong, abstain from being a Catholic unless or until you come to believe it is right.  Religion does not call for slaves but lovers.  Examine your motives.

                As for the thumbs commentator throwing around demeaning statements like people should not want to be Catholic “given the issues [the Church] had with pedophiles,” I’m sure you can see how that could be insulting to any faithful Catholic.  We have every bit as much disgust for pedophilia as non-Catholics do.  Pedophilia is not a teaching of our religion and never has been, just as flying planes into buildings is not a teaching of Islam.  In fact, from its inception the Catholic Church’s official teachings have been against not only the abomination of pedophilia but also any other sexual wrongs.  Sin is part of every man.  Mankind exists inside and outside the Church, so if you think you are going to escape the horror of sin, sexual or otherwise, simply by leaving organized religion, well, I’m sure you’ve already had your rude awakening.

                To the same commentator, who calls himself a "non-practicing Catholic":  what does that mean?  I eat meat every day.  Does that make me a non-practicing vegetarian?  My parents signed me up for ballet when I was in 2^nd grade and I stopped going after one season –does that make me a non-practicing ballerina?  Is someone wielding a machine gun simply a non-practicing pacifist?  Is someone who votes Republican all the time a non-practicing Democrat?  Putting the word “non-practicing” before a label basically negates it, unless you mean you think it is wrong not to practice and you hope to be able to do so in the future.  As the law of non-contradiction tells us, you cannot both believe and not believe at the same time.  Perhaps what most people mean by the nonsensical term “non-practicing Catholic” is “I was baptized Catholic but no longer consider myself part of the Catholic Church,” which is certainly a choice one can make, but please call it what it is.  If you are agnostic, say you are agnostic.  If you are a non-Catholic Christian, say it.  If you are not sure where you stand on Catholicism or on religion in general, say that.  Why cling to the Catholic name, albeit “non-practicing”, if you do not intend to be part of the Catholic Church and hold few if any of its beliefs?  You can be a Catholic who’s having a quarrel with a teaching of the Church; it’s natural and healthy to wrestle with and search deeply for truth.  But you can’t be a Catholic, “non-practicing” or otherwise, while at the same time hating the Church, being repulsed by it, or considering it optional.

Catholics practice their faith just as Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other religious bodies practice theirs.  All Catholics fall short of perfectly practicing their faith.  We are sometimes uncharitable, gossips, lazy, adulterers, liars, abusers, greedy, or alcoholics just as any other humans might be.  But being Catholic requires us to recognize our weaknesses and make an honest effort to turn away from them many times throughout life in a process of continual conversion, from parishioners all the way on up to the Pope.  The sacraments are there for us when we see our weaknesses and desire to overcome them.  When we do not see our weaknesses and need a nudge back in the direction of our faith we should all be so lucky as to have a loving priest like the one at St. Kathryn’s reminding us of the way.  Five years ago when I came back to the Church after an absence of over a decade and was unable to receive the sacraments due to an immoral condition in my life it hurt, but the pain drove me to right that wrong and I am joyful for it now and able to participate fully at Mass.  Love is not just kindness.  Sometimes it is tough.  Sometimes it hurts.  Sometimes it bleeds to death on a cross before it saves.

I do hope the family involved comes back to their beautiful Catholic faith, but if they choose not to I hope they still find “the way, the truth and the life.”  Out of love He’s given us the Church to help and guide us, knowing how broken and in need of support and community and his body we are.  But He is out there for anyone who truly seeks, whatever church they attend or don’t attend, baptism or no baptism, religion or no religion, hard road or harder road, whether they know his actual name in life on earth or not.

Charlene Maniotis