Latest article and radio: Scrooge, and new soon-to-be-saints

My newest article, How to be Like Scrooge at Christmas, is now up at Catholic Stand, and I’ve got it copy/pasted below.

Also, yesterday I joined Morning Air to talk a little about a very large group of French and Spanish martyrs who are now on their way to sainthood. You can catch that conversation here.

Only a few more days of Advent left!

How to Be Like Scrooge This Christmas

When you hear someone described as a “Scrooge,” that means miserly, miserable, and greedy, right? Well, the other side of Ebenezer Scrooge – the way he lives after he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future – is actually quite virtuous. From the moment Scrooge wakes up that Christmas morning until the end of his life, he demonstrates true Christian charity. How can we be more like Scrooge this Christmas?

Demonstrate Joy

Once Scrooge has his transformative experience, his entire being is consumed by joy. He leaps, he yells, he laughs, and he continues laughing for the rest of his life. In fact, he is so joyful that others find him amusing and even look down on his joyful abandon: “Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset.” His joy is un-self-conscious and driven by his sincere, newfound love for mankind and wonder for all God has created.

Demonstrate Generosity from the Heart

We lament the over-commercialization of Christmas and the emphasis on giving big, flashy gifts. But as Scrooge sends the biggest turkey he can find to the Cratchits, he is doing so from the heart, out of a real sense of benevolence, gratitude, generosity, and even playfulness.

Similarly, when he encounters the “portly gentlemen” that he mistreated the prior day who were raising money for the poor, he makes a large donation that includes “many back payments.” His gift comes from humility and a sincere desire to help and serve others.

This Christmas, give out of this same sense of your own blessings. Remember that while we love to give gifts to our loved ones, we can also donate to those in need. And remember, as Scrooge demonstrates, God loves a cheerful giver.

Be in Fellowship with Others

Christmas really is meant to be shared with others, and, deep down, Scrooge knows it. That’s why, after taking care of the turkey, he nervously makes his way to his nephew’s house to accept the nephew’s Christmas dinner invitation. If you are looking for fellowship at the holidays, know that you can be the one to organize a gathering. Be like Scrooge’s family and play games together, feast, sing songs, and generally enjoy each other’s company. Christmas is a wonderful time for sharing friendship.

Demonstrate Mercy

Scrooge also learns about mercy. When Bob Cratchit comes into work late the day after Christmas, Scrooge not only forgives him but invites him to have “a bowl of smoking bishop” and increases his salary. This generosity is arguably long overdue but, in Scrooge’s case, is still a big deal – because he has learned to put himself in someone else’s shoes. Christmas, of all times of year, is really perfect for mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He also extends this mercy to the rest of Bob’s family, especially Tiny Tim, to whom he becomes like a second father.

Keep Christmas Well

Of Scrooge, the story ends that “it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.” He became “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man” as anyone knew. Ultimately, what stands out from Scrooge’s transformation is how he treats others: that he lives up to the Gospel promise that, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Through his demonstration of generosity, love, charity, mercy, and joy, Scrooge is truly one to emulate at Christmastime.

Interested in hearing more about this topic? Listen to my interview on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air Show here on how to be more like Scrooge.