The war in Ukraine and the enormous difficulties that inflation is causing in the daily life of many families put us on the path that the birth of Jesus is today closer than ever to the poor and vulnerable. Aware of the enormous effort these people make to recover their place in society, Cáritas has launched its traditional Christmas campaign with the slogan “Only love illuminates everything”.
According to the report “The cost of living and family strategies to deal with it”, almost two out of ten vulnerable families were forced to turn to the parish, social services or an NGO to be able to cover their basic food needs. Most of these people experience severe exclusion. The FOESSA report -presented by Cáritas at the beginning of the year- estimates that more than two million families find themselves in this very precarious situation in our country.
At Cáritas we know that every report we make, every number or figure tells the story of real people with voice and soul, people struggling to recover their dignity and rights. Reports are road signs that allow us to see reality, to interpret it and to discern what to do with it.
In their daily work, the more than 5,400 parish Caritas organizations are direct witnesses of the wounds that these difficult and complex times are leaving on a large part of the population. Wars, waves of migration between countries and the post-pandemic coexist with other shadows that are no less violent and close, such as precarious work, the social exclusion of one in three young people, the scarcity of affordable housing for those with fewer resources or mental health issues and the loneliness that is taking root in the streets and homes.
God is present
Despite all this, Christmas comes as the favorable time for God to be present in the midst of our history. Today, and despite the weakness of our faith, it also seems incredible to us that God becomes “one” with our fragile humanity, sometimes petty and inconsistent, and that it chooses to make his home among the poor. God continues to be born to humanize us and plant in us the desire for good that makes it possible to wait for something new capable of upsetting and transforming our shadows into darkness that leaves room for light.
Through its campaign, Cáritas invites all of society to become aware that the Love we share with other people makes us equal as humanity, makes us one big family and calls us to enjoy the common good which aspires to be embodied in the full access of all people with human rights.
Convinced that Love is the engine that drives us to put ourselves in each other’s shoes, Caritas proposes taking advantage of this Advent season to share the joy of loving others. This Christmas we want to bring light and feel like bearers of light, responsible and committed in the sense of Christmas, of the birth of life in every person, with those who have less, with those who feel lonely and sad.
A very special Christmas carol
The Cáritas Christmas campaign opens for another year with its traditional Christmas carol. This year it comes from the hand of ‘Always like this’. The Sevillian group has generously volunteered to be the musical band of this Christmas campaign thanks to the solidarity action of the San Pablo-CEU Foundation.
‘Always like this’ chose the popular Christmas carol “Los peces en el río”. The clip was recorded at the Cáritas Diocesan Employment Center in Seville and was attended by volunteers and people in training. For the third consecutive year, the production company Warner Music has sold the rights to the Christmas carol to Cáritas Española.
“We are very thankful, in this very special Forever Like This year, in which we celebrate 30 years of music, to have received this invitation from Cáritas Española to play our part in its traditional, admirable and exemplary Christmas campaign that we love so much, it enthuses every year and so necessary for many people. An honor and an unexpected gift that has reached the depths of our hearts. We have put the best of ourselves to, through our way of understanding music and a beautiful video clip directed by Javier Morete, send to the world from our Andalusia a message of joy, hope and solidarity”, he assures Raphael Almarchafrom “Always like this”.
