Sunday, October 30, 2016

What to do when your pastor is wrong.

  With Halloween tomorrow, all kinds of rumours are going around.  One of the most prominent is that Halloween's origins are rooted in "Celtic Paganism".  Read: Druidism.  Now, much ink has been spilled on this, and I'll let you read up on it on yourself.  https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/InFocus/Article/TabId/721/ArtMID/13629/ArticleID/16247/The-long-twisted-story-of-All-Hallows-Eve.aspx
This morning at Mass, my priest (who is Polish) repeated that myth.  Now, to be sure, he does have reason to be worried, and he did warn against Tarot Cards and Ouija boards, which is fine.  He also told us to "have fun" but "be careful".  And when someone told him "Happy Halloween", he didn't seem too upset.  But why are these myths repeated?  Why do we even have the "Halloween is Pagan" myth still going around?  This belief stems, not from Catholic orthodoxy, but from Fundamentalist Protestantism.  Yet, even Catholics (including priests!) are suckered into it.  I wanted to tell him "Fr., you are wrong!  Have you been reading Chick tracts"?!  To be fair, I don't think they celebrate Halloween in Poland, and he may actually have learned about its "origins" from people who really don't know.  So what did I do after Mass?  I went to the Chapel, and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  Which is what I suggest you do, when your pastor is wrong.