Skip to main content

ALL HALLOWS' EVE

For me, Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, has always been magical-- and mystical. While Wikipedia is intent on explaining the difference between these two terms, I will explain how they are intertwined. I vividly remember my childhood Halloweens: the decorations, the costumes, going out after dark, and of course, the CANDY. So. Much. Candy. For me, there was magic in the air. Jack O’ Lanterns glowed on porches, children were transformed into costumed creatures, and did I mention candy? Full disclosure: I trick-or-treated until I was 28 because I loved it so much I didn’t want to let it go. All of this is the magical part. Even now, as fall begins to encroach on summer, I sense Halloween in the air, dark clouds passing over the moon. The wind whispers, “All Hallows’ Eve is coming.” Combine this with the colorful falling leaves, cooler air and pumpkin spice lattes (!?), and I can feel the harvest season ending as the barren winter approaches. Halloween bears the message that All Saints Day is immanent. As children, my brothers and I had to wait to trick or treat at our parish rectory until our pastor returned home from the Vigil Mass. So, from an early age the two days were connected for me. All Saints’ Day unites us to our spiritual ancestors. All the saints on the Church calendar and all the saints who are not-- but who are no less important. This link to eternity and our complete union with the God who made us and loves us beyond all measure is the mystical part. I have no issue with going directly from the “secular” world of ghosts, pumpkins and black cats to the sacredness of the saints. The whole ancient idea was on All Hallows’ Eve that the veil that separated the physical realm from the spiritual one was the thinnest. The two could intermingle. Magical meets mystical. This connection is why I carve Jesus pumpkins. It is my way of reminding people that Halloween is not merely a “secular” holiday. In Franciscanism, all of nature comes from God, so there is no secular. All created things are sacred. God’s fingerprint is on every living thing--when we choose to see it.

Sister Gayle Rusbasan, OSF
Campus Minister
University of St. Francis
Joliet, IL

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beauty of Storytelling in Revealing God’s Presence in Humanity: A Franciscan Reflection

“What Francis wanted to recapture and live was what the earliest companions of Christ had experienced: the presence of God coming alive in the human community. He wanted that to be the universal way.” Ahlgren, Gillian. The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming Our Humanity . Fortress Press, 2017, 57. One of the great joys I have in working with graduate students and serving as a certified spiritual director is to hear the stories of students and directees. Oftentimes, these stories continue to be told more than once but not always in the same exact way. For me, one’s sharing of their experiences, acquired wisdom, yearnings and struggles gathered along life’s journey, reveals the presence of God. Like what is stated in the quote above, Francis discovered God to be fully present in our relationships with others and creation. His sending out of his followers two by two or in groups, traveling to various parts of the countryside and then coming back together to community must have led to the...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEMES IN FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY

I have been an official Franciscan since 2001 when I joined my community- the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart. One part of Franciscan spirituality that deeply resonates with me is the wonder of the Incarnation. Francis was so amazed that the mighty God of the Universe would become a helpless infant. He contemplated the Incarnation throughout his life, but he could never get over his awe. God became humble; God chose to be human. The Humility of God is a Franciscan concept that sounds like a contradiction. But Francis was able to see the truth in this. Jesus came to earth as an infant born of a woman, like the rest of us humans. He was not born into privilege, in fact, very much the opposite. He wasn’t even born at home. He was born in another city, Joseph’s ancestral home. And why would God send His son to earth as a human? Because He loves us. Francis knew this. He knew that love is God and God is love. God’s love is the driving force of the universe. It is why there is a univ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SELF-AWARENESS, SELF-ACTUALIZATION

On his deathbed, St. Francis freed his Brothers by saying, “I have done what was mine to do, may Christ now teach you what you are to do.”  Why did he say this? So that his Brothers would not try to become him.  God created each of Francis’ Brothers to be who they were, not who St. Francis was.  The key for them finding out what was theirs to do was discovering whom God intended them to be.  Now, 800 years later, self-awareness for our students is just - if not - more important.   A Franciscan view of career suggests each of our students needs to know who they are so that they can see the Good inside themselves, and share that Good to maximize their contribution to transform a world desperately in need of their Good. Sadly, for most college students, self-awareness is in short supply.   On my radio show Thank God For Monday, guests advise that today’s college graduates are not self-aware.   Sure, they know accounting and biology and information tec...
Post a Comment
Read more