Jack the Depressed Pumpkin – A Halloween Video

Where did the tradition of carving pumpkins come from? That is the question that haunts Jack, a pumpkin in need of psychiatric help. In the following video by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen of SQPN, Jack learns the legend behind this practice and comes to terms with his own insecurities.

Here’s another account of the legend, courtesy of Wikipedia:

An old Irish folk tale tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy yet shrewd farmer who uses a cross to trap the Devil. One story says that Jack tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that the Devil couldn’t get down. Another myth says that Jack put a key in the Devil’s pocket while he was suspended upside-down.

Another version of the myth says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who Friendly Pumpkinhad stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack’s wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both myths, Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favourite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as “Jack of the Lantern”, or Jack-o’-Lantern.

Find Catholics on Twitter via Fr. Roderick

Fr. Roderick Vonhögen of SQPN fame has published a very comprehensive list of Catholics on Twitter. He’s divided the list into several categories:

  • Popes, bishops and dioceses
  • Priests
  • Deacons
  • Seminarians
  • Religious
  • Catholic Media Personalities
  • Podcasters
  • Catholic bands
  • Other Catholics
  • Resources
  • Organizations
  • Commercial
Fr. Roderick Vonhögen
Fr. Roderick Vonhögen

I’d love to help him add to his list by giving him links to all the Catholic teachers on Twitter. If you’re a Catholic teacher and you Tweet, leave a comment below with your Twitter name and I’ll send the list to Fr. Roderick.

You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nsenger. If you’re not on Twitter, and you don’t know what all the fuss is about, check out the video at the end of this article.

P.S. I was a bit chagrined to find that Fr. Roderick and I are using the same WordPress theme, but what can I say, I guess great minds think alike!

Twitter in Plain English

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o