According to the data shared by Caritas Spain through a press release, 19.3% of low-income households turn to parishes, social services and NGOs to cover basic needs such as food and clothing. More than two million families are in a precarious situation and one in three young people suffer social exclusion.
These difficulties do not prevent the arrival of the Christmas holidays. As Caritas points out in the note on the campaign, "Christmas comes as the favorable time in which God makes himself present in the midst of our history. Today, despite the weakness of our faith, it also seems incredible to us that God becomes 'One' with our fragile, sometimes petty and incoherent humanity, and that he chooses to make his home in the midst of the poor. God continues to be born to humanize us and to plant in us the desire for goodness that makes it possible to hope for something new capable of disrupting and changing our shadows into shadows that leave room for the light".
The challenge for this Christmas
In addition to asking for donations to help families and people in need, Caritas launches an invitation to be aware that Love makes us all equal. This should lead us to see society as a big family in which we aspire to the common good and the defense of human rights.
As concrete acts of love for others, the campaign mentions five other gestures that can serve to "be Christmas and light for others":
"-Look at other people with a smile and tenderness, without judgment and try to understand.
-Listen with patience to welcome and receive, to shorten distances.
-Take care and offer something of yourself to others.
-Share your joy, your conversation, your company, your generosity.
-Write a commitment to yourself this Christmas to start the new year with a desire to make the world a better place.
Below is the video with the carol performed by Siempre Así.