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October 27, 2019: Masks

Have you ever wondered WHY people give candy out on Halloween? It dates back long ago, to the British Isles when they considered that this time of year was the start of winter. This was also the time of year when the dead were honored . . . for example on November 1 is the feast of All Saints (where we recognize all the saints who have gone before us). [to the kids] Have any of you dressed up like a saint? [I invite them to stand.]

 

November 2 is the Feast of All Souls, when we remember those we love who have died, especially those within the past 12 months.   Have any of you had someone you love die? Yah, it is sad isn’t it?

 

Well as this time of year, people who lost someone wanted others to pray for them. And often times, poor people who go around to homes and offer to pray for the dead relatives IF the people would give them some food, usually a piece of a special cake, called a soul cake. And if the people in the home didn’t give a soul cake, the people asking would pull a trick on them. Hence the name “trick or treat.” That is, I promise to pray for someone you lost and you give me a treat, if you don’t give me a treat, I might mess up your lawn or something.

 

So imagine . . . when you go around asking for candy, what you are really doing is promising to pray for those people and for the family members (or friends) they lost.   It’s cool isn’t it?

 

And it was believed that some of those dead souls who didn’t have anyone to pray for them would come around, and people didn’t want them around, so they would carve scary faces on gourds and pumpkins to chase them away. Or they would dress up in costumes to scare them away.

 

Of course, that doesn’t really happen. Those who have died don’t come back. But back in the old days people believed a lot of goofy things, like the world being flat, or that some people are inferior to others or that the Vikings will someday win a Super Bowl. Crazy? Yes!

 

Anyway, who here has a scary costume? [Have them stand up. Then I invite various kinds of costumes to also stand . . . e.g. Superheroes, princesses, animals, someone from a movie or TV show, police officer, fire fighter, soldier, deer hunter, etc.]

 

It’s fun to dress up isn’t it? We can pretend to be something we are not. But sometimes we start believing that we are these goofy creatures we have created. The Pharisee in the gospel, thinks that he is someone special . . . he names off all the good things about himself. It would be like any of you saying to God, “Thank you God, that I am so perfect. I am so good-looking. I never do anything wrong. I always get A’s on my homework, never make a mess at home and do everything my parents tell me.”   Wow, that sounds incredible, doesn’t it?   But NONE of us are like. And NONE of us should pretend that we are perfect and have it all together.

 

Instead, Jesus praised the one man who comes to pray and all that he says is, “God, be merciful to me, I am a sinner.”   We ALL ARE SINNERS. None of us are perfect, none of us do everything right. Comedian Groucho Marx once said, “There’s one way to find out if a man is honest: Ask him. If he says yes, you know he is a crook.

 

We all make mistakes. We all are sinners. The real tragedy is IF you have something that you never share with anyone. Whatever it is, you are much more than that thing . . . so share it. For you kids, that probably means with a parent, or a teacher. For all of you, that does mean with God. And for some of you it can happen in the sacrament of reconciliation.

 

You are not you costume or mask, but underneath it . . . is someone lovable.

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