There is something very special about sharing the beautiful story of 'Christmas Carol' by the master storyteller, Charles Dickens. It is the tale of redemption-a classic tale of good conquering evil. In the story, Ebenezer Scrooge is a selfish, greedy and bitter man who had 'no room' in his heart and life for others. However, through a series of visits by three spirits he is given a second chance at life. Filled with deep regret after seeing his life as it really was, he has a change of heart, he takes a different path, and he becomes a grateful and generous person of compassion.

No doubt, over the upcoming twelve days of Christmas, you will see various film versions ranging from the outstanding Alister Simms to the Muppets, from Whoopi Goldberg to Bill Murray in modern adaptations. Each movie presents the picture of 'Scrooge', forever an icon for selfishness and lack of compassion. In this year of pandemic, the message of the story is more popular than ever with various theatres across the world live-streaming versions of the tale. In this special Christmas of hardship, we need to hear the central message of 'A Christmas Carol' even more.

The current economic crisis has accentuated the great divide that exists, even in our nation, between the rich and the poor. It is to our eternal shame that it took a professional footballer, Marcus Rashford to awaken the consciousness of our government and help feed children over the school holidays—childhood poverty in 2022 is unthinkable, but it is a reality. Back in the extreme poverty of Victorian England, Scrooge is able to say to the charity collectors:

"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.

"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

"And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"

"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."

"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge. ('A Christmas Carol')

His answer is to sweep the poor off the streets and keep them hidden: fill the prisons and cruel workhouses with children who need just a little support and encouragement. This attitude comes back to haunt him when the 'Spirit of Christmas Present' introduces him to the children of the street - 'Ignorance' and 'Want'. As well as being an amazing author, Dickens was a strong advocate of social justice; he spoke regularly on the need to hear the cry of the poor. He knew the mean and cold streets of London growing up in Camden Town. He used this first-hand experience to share with his readers in his works such as 'Oliver Twist' and 'The Old Curiosity Shop'. Like these great works of literature, 'A Christmas Carol' was a critique of a selfish society. In 2020 the Church offered 'Fratelli Tutti' as an antidote to a world that does not include others, a world that wants to build walls and keep the "other" out. There is more than a touch of the old Scrooge in some politicians across the world-even in our own country.

In the movie trailer to Disney's version of ''A Christmas Carol,'' the narrator says halfway through the clip, ''What if you were given a second chance to get your life right . . . the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future will give one man that chance!'' In a way, that message captures the Christmas story - Christmas is about God giving humanity a second chance. This Christmas time, Jesus the Son of God invites us to see ourselves as God does, to take a different path, to open our hearts wide to the love of God that came down to us at Christmas, the love that gives us a second chance.

As the various spirits take Scrooge on his frightening journey through the past, present and future, we see something of his dysfunctional childhood and how he invests his whole life in money instead of family and relationships. Money becomes his god, and it takes his former partner, 'Jacob Marley' and the spirits to bring him to his senses. In the course of one Christmas Eve, Scrooge experiences what alcoholics call 'an intervention'. And the result?

A grumpy old man defined by greed wakes the next morning driven by generosity. It is strange but you actually find yourself liking the new Scrooge, wanting to know him better, wishing you could be more like him.

We are invited to share that generosity of the new 'Scrooge'-a spirit that this new year will demand of us, as we slowly break the shackles of this virus. I have vivid memories of my time in Liberia at the Don Bosco Mission in New Matadi: I loved their Eucharistic celebration, with emphasis on celebration. At the offertory, everyone stood and poured into the aisles, singing, clapping, even shouting. The people began moving forward, each in turn bringing whatever they had brought to a space in the front-it was not about money, but whatever they could spare from their own homes. This was West African offering time. The chickens would help others get a tiny farm business started. The yams and the eggs given could be sold in the marketplace to help the needy. The cassava paste would guarantee that someone who was hungry could eat. This spontaneous outpouring of generosity is something I saw repeated, with the self-same generosity, in inner city London years later.

The Christ child born in Bethlehem would make sure that the first were last and the last were first. Jesus did not come for the healthy but for the sick. Those who thought they were insiders would be left out in the cold if they did not embrace this new reality. In this new reality that Jesus was ushering in meant that he and his followers had to lose touch with the old reality. Paul wrote that the message of the cross is foolishness to most but to those who are being saved it is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 1). Conversion should be a transformation so significant that people should laugh at us and think us foolish for the risk-taking charity that flows out of our lives. Opening our hearts can be frightening; as we live in a scary world-made even more frightening this year. There are reasons to shut down, close down, protect yourself. When you do, do not do it for long. It can then become a habit. And a bitter one at that. Better is the habit of a heart that knows how to open wide. No walls. No restrictions. When your heart is open, the love of God can flow and when God's love flows, life is transformed.

Dickens shows us the transformation of a greedy, narcissistic, cruel, miser of a man—the epitome of all that can go wrong with a person— into the wonder of a person whose heart is now utterly open to joy, generosity, beauty and goodness. Something new, something divine, something life-altering is being born in Ebenezer Scrooge. This is what Christmas is about. And if Christmas can come to Scrooge, Christmas can come to all of us, no exceptions. The transformation of Scrooge is not just about his giving a large cheque to the charity collectors, we see a new care and respect for others. There are plenty of us who have reasons for regret and worry, to complain and quarrel. We too could stay stuck in the past, but there is no life there. We cannot live there. We can only live here and now. Scrooge must open the door to the present, and consciously step into the abundance of the Spirit. And once inside the present moment, Scrooge begins to change. He begins to feel love, and love, stirred by the catharsis of his grief and regret, moves him into the transformation made possible because he opens the door to the present, to what's happening now. On that amazing Christmas morning, Dickens tells us that he goes to Church and...:

...walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows: and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk—that anything—could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew's house. ('A Christmas Carol')

We see that his whole attitude has changed: from being addicted to money to being addicted to sharing. Scrooge took that second chance that God is offering to each of us at this time: reconciliation gives us all a second, fifth and even five thousandth chance. How many times must we forgive asks Simon Peter? The reply from Jesus of '70x7' reveals the infinite and unconditional love of God. Dickens shows how a strong dose of reality can make Christmas so special and different. I pray that Christmas 2022 will be equally transformative for you and your families and friends. As we have had to scale back on so much this year, we never have to scale back on our generosity. We wish everyone, especially those we cannot physically share the experience with, every good wish and happiness. I pray that you enjoy laughter, fun and games this Christmas, as you re-discover old traditions and make new ones. I pray that, even in these days, you can see the blessing of God in your life-it might be a prayer of thanksgiving that you are not in an ICU ward, breathing with the aid of a ventilator. May people say of us as Dickens said of Scrooge

He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew. 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; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God bless Us, Every One! " (A Christmas Carol')

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Photo by Khashayar Kouchpeydeh on Unsplash