The other day, I was at Vivo city with my fiancé where I chanced upon a poster with a man with an axe buried in his head. “Halloween Horror nights, Singapore’s scariest party” proclaimed the poster, insinuating, of course, that if you are part of the glamorous crowd, you should be there (at Universal Studios, Resorts World Sentosa, where else), dressed in your Halloween best.One’s Halloween best can include of course being dressed as one of those traditional Halloween creatures, such as werewolves, vampires, or Frankenstein’s monster. For those preferring modern versions, there is always Edward Cullen of Twilight fame or Lady Gaga.
Party goers know that they are only at their ghoulish best (worst) for one night. As they party the night away, they know that when morning comes, they go back to work or school and will return to being plain John Lee or Jane Chan. Nevertheless, taking a night off to connect with your inner monster sure was fun.
Catholics, (at least for those who consider days of obligation obligatory,) will instead be found huddled in churches for the celebration of the Vigil Mass of All Saints’ Day. I know I was. And a very insightful homily by Fr Derrick Yap, OFM at the Church of St. Mary of the Angels got me thinking.
In his homily, Fr Derrick mentioned the surprise he felt when he realized, upon asking a group of children, that they knew next to nothing about All Saints Day but knew everything about Halloween. He had to explain to them that Halloween is connected to All Saints’ Day. Indeed, the word is a Scottish rendition of All Hallows Eve, that is, the day before All Saints Day.
Fr Derrick urged the congregation to let their children know the saints better, for All Saints Day is potentially the feast day of every single Christian, since that is our destiny. In his typically folksy style, Fr Derrick insisted that surely the saints are “more glam” than any of the strange creatures that come for our Halloween parties.
Fr Derrick’s words got me thinking. Why are our saints seemingly not as “glam” (if one were to use this word) as the parade of spooky monsters? Before we decry the secular world for yet another attempt at commercializing a Christian festival (think Christmas for instance), perhaps we should look at the way we present our saints.
Do they look pallid and overly sentimental in our typical Catholic artwork? Are their stories told to our children as a means of social control, for example: the saints obeyed their parents/teachers therefore you should too, making them glorified teacher’s pets? Or do we teach our children that these saints are first (potential) spiritual dispensing machines, helpful if they grant “practical” favours like passing the exams and getting into a good school but whose lives ought not to be imitated too seriously?
If that is the way our attitude to the saints are, then no wonder the spooky monsters seem more glamorous. I don’t want to be a glorified teacher’s pet on All Hallows Eve. I want to be someone larger than life.
Yet the best of Christian art and storytelling has never portrayed the saints in this way. The saints were usually troublemakers and provocateurs, who inspite of their human weakness, strive to love the person of Jesus Christ and shine his light onto every facet of life. They confronted human problems in the most creative and remarkable ways provoking either fierce loyalty or strident opposition. When they were peacemakers, they were able to reconcile seemingly irreconcilable foes. And yes, they were prepared to face martyrdom for their beliefs.
Indeed, if one were to look at the frescoes of The Last Judgment painted by Michelangelo, one would notice a parade of saints, many of them showing the tools of their martyrdom to Jesus Christ the Just Judge. If one were to look carefully, one would notice one man carrying his flayed skin and showing it to Jesus. That is St. Bartholomew, who was believed to have suffered martyrdom by being skinned alive.And if one were to come to a Singapore’s scariest party dressed like St. Bartholomew, one would surely be one of the finalists in the best dressed competition.
The best of the Catholic tradition is not unfamiliar to pain, suffering and gore. But pain, suffering and gore are not ends in themselves. They are celebrated not for its own sake, but for the reason that they can be transfigured into scars of victory and love. St. Bartholomew showing his skin to Christ does not glorify pain in itself but offers it as a pledge of love.
On the other hand, Halloween parties seem to glorify pain and gore in itself. It is, instead of a transfiguration, a disfiguration; it takes suffering either too seriously, by telling the world that suffering is the final destiny of man, or too trivially, reducing it to mere entertainment.
As Catholics, we need to reclaim Halloween in the right way, first by recognizing that our saints, in loving Christ, become some of the most interesting people on the planet. Indeed, sainthood is our destiny.
So dress your children in a saint costume the next Halloween. As they “party” the night away and when morning comes, they return to being plain Johns and Janes. But they remember these real people (the saints) were also plain Johns and Janes. But by loving Christ and being loved by him, they fulfill their full potential and destiny.
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