Caring for Humanity: Supporting families this Advent

As a Lay Benedictine Community, we are spending this Advent reflecting on what it means to truly care for humanity. We are reminded constantly that the call of Christ is not an abstract principle, nor a purely spiritual invitation. It is incarnational. It is grounded in the real people in front of us: our neighbours, our brothers and sisters in community, our fellow parishioners, and our wider communities. Caring for humanity means putting flesh on the Gospel, especially for those who are most vulnerable.

In my other work with the Caritas Social Action Network, I have spent much of this year listening to families across England and Wales and producing research on the deep financial strain facing Catholic families. One area that has had a damaging and long-term effect is the two-child cap on benefits. For years charities, Christian leaders, and anti-poverty organisations have spoken out against it, arguing that it has disproportionately harmed those who can least afford it. Many families told us of the daily decisions they must make between heating and eating, sacrificing not just comforts but essentials. Families of faith who desperately want to give their children stability, dignity, and hope have instead been pushed into anxiety and insecurity.

And so, after years of sustained advocacy, I was overjoyed to hear that the Chancellor has now scrapped the two-child cap. This change is set to bring around 450,000 children out of poverty in the coming years. Praise be to God. It is a profound example of what can happen when the Christian conscience speaks clearly in the public square, and when our commitment to the dignity of every child is lived out as a matter of justice and mercy.

Yet removing the policy does not remove the need.

Poverty in this country remains staggering.

In our research for the Counting the Cost report, we found that families will continue to face incredibly difficult financial circumstances, with many on the edge of survival. These are not families far removed from us or living in isolation. They are the people sitting next to us in the pews each Sunday. They are parents quietly skipping meals so their children can eat. They are grandparents helping to care for grandchildren while living on a strained pension. They are the families volunteering at parish events, the people we speak to every week, and the faces we see at Communion, many of them suffering in silence.

One of the most sobering lessons from the report was that those experiencing poverty often do not feel able to speak about it. Whether through embarrassment, fear of judgement, or simply a desire to remain dignified, they carry the burden alone. As Christians, as a community rooted in the Rule of St Benedict, we cannot let this go unnoticed. Advent invites us to become the presence of Christ not only in contemplation, but also in tangible solidarity.

Here are some practical ways our community, especially during this Advent season, can begin responding, drawn directly from the recommendations of the report and grounded in the Catholic Social Teaching tradition.

1. Build parish or community teams using the See–Judge–Act method

This simple but powerful approach is one of the Church’s greatest tools for transformation:

• See the reality of poverty at a local level.

• Judge it in the light of the Gospel and the dignity of every person.

• Act in solidarity, not just compassion.

  
  

Could groups be formed within the community to listen, observe, and respond with courage? Could we ensure that the families most at risk are not invisible to us?

2. Provide, or make accessible, Family Support Services

Family support must be structured, not occasional. Many do not know where to turn for:

• debt advice

• counselling

• practical assistance

• pastoral support

  
  

Are we equipped as a community to point people to the right help? Is there a place people can go? Do our members feel able to ask for help or signpost others to the right places?

3. Look Beyond Material Needs

Poverty is not only about a lack of money. It is also about barriers, isolation, and exclusion. Supporting families means thinking holistically:

• employment or skills opportunities

• resilience-building and mentoring

• addressing obstacles such as childcare or transport

Every one of us has gifts that can serve the community in ways that restore dignity. Ask: Is our community a place where people feel able to say “I need help”? Are there structures of mentoring, mutual aid, and belonging?

Pope Francis speaks often about the need to form a culture of encounter, a phrase that is at the heart of Advent. A culture of encounter is humble, patient, and generous. It looks beyond labels or assumptions and seeks to meet Christ in the other, especially where society has failed to see Him.

Advent: A Time to Make Space for Others

We often think of Lent as the season where our faith moves outward in almsgiving and works of service. But Advent is also a time of preparation, not only for the Lord’s coming at Christmas, but for His coming in those who need us today. When we turn our attention to the needs of struggling families, we shift our focus away from ourselves and we make space for God to act within us.

Christ came into the world not in the halls of power but in a family living on the margins. He chose the vulnerability of a poor household. When we serve the least of these, we serve Christ Himself. In this holy season, we are invited once again to recognise Him in the families who struggle, in the parents doing their best, in the child who goes without, in the newborn in the manger.

May our Advent prayer be simple: that we might see Him. And having seen Him, that we might serve Him.