Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Halloween, is an old English word. Hallow meaning holy and ween meaning evening. It means the eve of All Hallows / All Saints. Many of our Christian festivals, were originally pagan festivals that the early missionaries changed to Christian Festivals. They understood the culture and instead of fighting it they tried to Christianize it. Sadly today the reserve takes place many of our Christian feasts become commercialized and we lose the Christian meaning of the celebration. We are afraid to say Merry Christmas for fear of offending our neighbor. We are at times afraid to admit that we go to Church because that might seem old fashioned. We are guaranteed freedom of religion, but we run and hide. The call of the Christian is to be the light shining in the darkness, the light that shows Gods love to our world. As we celebrate All Saints and remember all the faithful departed. Let us stand proud for all our ancestors who endured No Catholics need apply or had gun and abuse fired at them because they were catholic and rode the buses, to school heckled by those who were motivated by bigotry and hatred. Let us pray that that be never part of our motivation or way of life.” Love one another. By this shall all know that you are my disciples” Let the journey of Faith continue, Fr Karl