On Saturday 4 November 2017, H.E. the Maronite Archbishop Youssef Soueif who is as well the president of Caritas Cyprus Koinonia participated at the gathering of Caritas Cyprus Day that took place at St Maroun School Anthoupoli. People from all the parishes and sectors in addition to the board of Caritas Cyprus were gathered in this meeting that aims to deepen the spirit of Caritas and reflect on the role of the Church as a caring mother and accompanying person and live with the other by sharing his journey based on the principles of the Catholic Social Teaching.
After the opening prayer H.E. Archbishop Youssef Soueif reflected on the spirituality of Caritas based on the Gospel of the Blessings (Mathew 5/1-16) saying that this Gospel goes against the logic of life, it draws a new logic, a new world given to us by Jesus Christ inviting us to be like the poor in spirit, to be gentle and merciful, pure of heart and peacemakers…, because we will gain the Kingdom of God. Archbishop Soueif reflected on several points that allow us to understand and live the life of Caritas/Charity. He started by “sharing the journey” the title of the global campaign of Caritas Internationalis in the whole world, Pope Francis launched it to share life with the poor, migrants, and who live in the peripheries, sharing is exchanging, listening, caring, serving; sharing the journey is recognizing that we as sons of God have the dignity to live in spite our differences; we are all one. He continued with questioning “Why do we do what we do?” especially as volunteers? and he answered “because inside our hearts we feel love, presence of God, and we need to share it. He reached the third point mentioning the “tiredness” suggesting to close Caritas in order to relax from this tiredness and rest; but in fact, he continued, that all the volunteers and the committed people in Caritas find their real rest in belonging to Caritas and serving because charity is deeply rooted in their hearts and lives. He mentioned the solidarity that we live through Caritas by accompanying and serving and supporting the other in need. In his fifth point, he talked about subsidiarity based on trust that leads to delegation and communication, it’s allowing others to be creative and to do jobs and learn to improve, otherwise we enter into a destruction and loss process. He continued the sixth point pointing out that all in CCY we are winners, the people whom we are assisting and we as volunteers meeting them, because when we offer we receive more and who gives a little will gain a lot in return. Inside the hearts of every poor there is a beauty of spirit that enriches us. he ended with the seventh point by pointing out the “Love” the foundation of the human life, we love when we feel loved. Caritas is to tell people in front of us that we love them.
