If you were to drive past the Chicago Boulevard entrance of Sacred Heart Major Seminary on Halloween evening, you would notice an unusual site: hundreds of delighted, costumed children lining the circular driveway and steps of the former front entrance to the seminary, with the line sometimes extending beyond the gates out onto the sidewalk. It is something to see.

 

Each Halloween for over four decades, Sacred Heart has opened its doors to neighborhood children to provide a safe and fun-filled Halloween experience. "Halloween in the Neighborhood" is a great opportunity for the seminary community to come together in service of the community that surrounds us.

 

"The entire event is generously supported by our local parishes and seminary community," says Eric Tarachowski, a first-year philosophy seminarian who helped coordinate the event this year. The seminary solicits donations of candy, hot chocolate and cookies from parishes around the Archdiocese of Detroit and beyond to distribute to young visitors—sometimes as many as two thousand—who come through our doors from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. Young adult groups bake homemade cookies, and religious education classes, students and friends of Sacred Heart contribute the hundreds of pounds of candy needed to make this evening a joyful event for so many. Seminarians organize the event each year as part of their pastoral formation, decorating the entrance vestibule with spooky scenery and dressing in wacky costumes accumulated over the years or made by the seminarians themselves.

 

But Halloween at Sacred Heart goes beyond candy and costumes; it is about reaching out to our neighbors, showing them the heart of Christ and seeing Jesus in each one of them. The evening always begins with prayer, led by emeritus professor Fr. Paul Berg and Sr. Mary Finn, undergraduate pastoral formation director. Both have been serving the seminary community since before Halloween in the Neighborhood began. Each child who comes through Sacred Heart's doors leaves with candy, a cup of hot chocolate and a prayer card with an image of our well-known Black Jesus shrine. Their joyful smiles are their gifts to us.

 

Stephen Pullis, a second year theologian, says, "Halloween is a great opportunity to share the love of Jesus with thousands of kids in the neighborhood. It is one of the best days at Sacred Heart."