Halloween and Reformation Day
Today, October 31, marks at least three celebrations. The first thought that comes to most people’s minds is probably Halloween.
Halloween was originally a Christian celebration, known as All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day. To hallow something is to celebrate its holiness.
All Hallows Day marked the beginning of AllHallowtide, a period on the liturgical calendar to remember those who died in Christ, especially the martyrs and saints.
In popular culture, it has degenerated into a celebration of death, the macabre, and the occult. Western civilization is becoming increasingly pagan in all aspects, but that’s a topic for another day.
This evening, you might celebrate All Hallows’ Eve or perhaps Halloween, depending on your beliefs and traditions. There is yet a third celebration.
You might want to celebrate Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses (topics for debate) to the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, an event that symbolized the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
Reformation Day remained unrecognized by the Roman Catholic Church around 2016, in time to commemorate the then-upcoming 500th anniversary of the event.
Christians debate whether or not we should celebrate Halloween and that’s a matter for individual conscience.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Romans 14:1-9
Whatever you choose to celebrate this evening, or even if you choose not to celebrate at all, may you do so in good conscience and without judging those who chose something different.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed,
Kevin