Why We Celebrate All Hallows’ Eve

At first glance, All Hallows’ Eve might seem like a fairly typical day, distinguished only by the added stress of costumes and sugar highs. In reality, though, it’s nothing short of an invitation to contemplate the last four things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. It’s well worth the time to learn more about the fascinating history and purpose of the day (two good sources are this reflection from the Bishop of Tulsa and this article from Vatican News). For now, suffice it to say that when all is said and done – literally, when all is said and done – and death is finally swallowed up in victory, that which was once corruptible will “clothe itself with incorruptibility.” (1 Cor. 15:50-54)

Or put another way: everyone dies, but not everyone really lives.

All Hallows’ Eve, then, is an opportunity to reflect on how we can live into the incorruptibility with which our baptism first clothed us. Very fortunately, that task is not just a shot in the dark, and next Monday will be an occasion for our students to enjoy a fun and personal encounter with the wisdom that has guided Saints from all ages into good lives worthy of the name.

Our First Graders will dress up as characters from Winnie the Pooh, because that silly bear and his rag-tag gang embody the beauty of selfless friendship on a level they can grasp. As they ooh and ahh over Eeyore’s costume or giggle at Tigger’s bounciness, it will plant a small and quiet seed that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Our Fourth Graders will dress up as characters from the Civil War, both because their lives would be impoverished without a deep understanding of American history and because they’re ready to start learning - from a safe enough distance - that life is not two-dimensional, certainty is an illusion but truth is not, and war is brutal and inhuman. They will come in that day as pretend soldiers and belles, but they will leave with a real understanding of the conflict itself and the resilience of the American experiment. 

Our Seventh Graders will dress up as binomial nomenclatures, because they’re beginning to explore the breathtaking reality that God has made Himself knowable through the predictable rhythms and accessible systems of His creation. They’ll doubtless laugh at each other as horse and hippo, but they’ll also remember that the One who, with a single effortless word spoke into existence the infinite complexity of life, also intimately knows and loves them.

Make no mistake, we don’t eschew glee for gloominess: we can’t wait for the costume contest and the Trunk-or-Treat! But on a more fundamental level, a child only gets one childhood, and we won’t squander it on meaningless gore or introduce fright for fright’s sake (the world can be scary enough without injecting more horror into it). Rather, we view All Hallows’ Eve as a fun opportunity to reinforce the lesson we strive to teach every day –  that life is worth living well and to the fullest, both right now and all the way until it is finally arrayed in immortality.