When I was doing some research as to how All Saints Day and All Souls Day connect to our secular holiday of Halloween, I read that Halloween started as All Hallows Eve - the Old English term for the vigil celebration before the Feast of the Saints. In Ireland, the faithful used in costumes on All Hallows Eve of both saintly and evil spirit, depicting the battle between good and evil that goes on in the world. Paul mentions such a battle in the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians today, telling the faithful to draw strength from the Lord to help them firm against the tactics of the Devil. Paul says that our main struggle in this world is not against our fellow human beings, but rather it is against those forces of spiritual evil that are forging battle against us. In our modern way of looking at the world and the universe, with our knowledge of science and astronomy and cosmology, we perhaps have lost the sense of a battle of good vs evil spiritual forces that the ancient world saw as a part of reality. We have gained a lot with our scientific knowledge, but perhaps we have lost a lot as well. Growing in God’s truth, maintaining integrity and loyalty to the faith, following God’s laws and commandments, forming a strong union with our brothers and sisters in Christ - these are ways we can put on the armor of Christ, being firm and resolute on our journey of faith. Like Paul, may we live out of faith boldly, not being afraid to stand up for our religious convictions.
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