The economic crisis accompanies our preparation for the Year of Faith. This coincidence can help us to think: should we remain with our arms folded, waiting for God to help us solve our problems? Not really. On the contrary, faith enlightens reason and gives us strength to find a way out of all the crises that arise in human life.

Concretely, it is worth considering, from the perspective of faith, a universal experience: all crises require solidarity. Perhaps for this reason, some films, without perhaps having great cinematographic value and even having been reprimanded by critics, are very popular, especially among young people.

For example, "Pay it forward" (M. Leder, 2000),"The Ultimate Gift" (M.O. Saible, 2006), or "The Student" (R. Girault, 2009). Among many others, these films reflect, with more or less success, various aspects of solidarity. And young people, even if they are threatened by the individualism and relativism that dominate the environment, are nostalgic for true solidarity. They realize that it is something they carry within them and that it is part of the solution to all personal and social crises. And at the same time, that it is not automatic, nor easy.

The value or virtue of solidarity is related not only to "great" virtues such as love and justice, but also to others that may seem "small" but are not, such as altruism and understanding, courtesy and gratitude, responsibility and commitment.

It is curious that the dictionary of Spanish defines solidarity as: "Circumstantial adherence to the cause or to the business of others". Perhaps it is the dominant idea in the street: to give a little time or money, sometime or from time to time (circumstantially), for something. If so, it would be a poor and superficial value. And, of course, a survey among young people would give as result the refusal to stay with that definition, because it is short of horizons.

If you ask them what solidarity is for them, in the midst of many interesting answers, perhaps something that is in the air escapes them: helping and "feeling good". But what is more authentic, "doing good" or "feeling good"? Undoubtedly the former leads to the latter, as long as the order is not changed.

The term solidarity speaks to us, etymologically, of something "solid", compact or whole, such as a Building, in which each element contributes to the whole and sustains it; and as a value staff, it leads to knowing and feeling manager of all. It is not a matter of naivety, but of the lived awareness of being and acting as a person.

Solidarity, therefore, has more to do with what John Paul II wrote: "Solidarity is not a superficial feeling for the ills of so many people, near or far, but a firm and persevering determination to work for the common good, that is, for the good of all and of each one, so that we may all be truly responsible for all" (Enc. Sollicitudo rei socialis, 1987, n. 38). Obviously, this is not limited to catastrophes, but should be present in the ordinary.

There are those who oppose solidarity to charity: charity would be humiliating because it is exercised vertically, from above, while solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect. Certainly, for a long time, charity has been understood in many environments as something official, cold and dry, which has nothing to do with the concreteness of solidarity; likewise, as we have seen above, it may have happened or is happening that solidarity is being diluted into a "ciscunstantial" feeling.

Instead, true solidarity opens up to authentic charity, which is fully represented in the cross of Christ, with its two poles or crossbeams: one vertical (coming from God) and the other horizontal (to extend its arms to all). And it becomes dense and real where those two poles meet: in the heart. Not as a place of cheap sentimentality, but as source of submission to the end.

Paul VI wrote that our world is sick of fraternity. Martin Luther King also said it in another way: "We have learned to fly like the birds, to swim like the fish, but we have not learned the art of living together as brothers".
Consequently, it is not true that "fraternity is one of the most beautiful inventions of social hypocrisy" (G. Flaubert), but the deepest human reality, which should become a reality also wanted and sought by everyone every day.

For these reasons, among others, all Education - both the family Education as well as the school and university Education , as well as the Christian training in any of its fields and levels - should aim to form "leaders in solidarity".

Solidarity, like charity, of which it is the germ and path, undoubtedly has an order: it must begin with those closest to us: family members, friends, neighbors. But not to limit itself to that sphere, otherwise it would destroy itself. If I love only those whom I expect to love me back, what kind of love is it? Like charity, solidarity must have a component of selflessness. Giving without expecting anything in return, even if we know that this is impossible, because at least we receive in return a feeling of joy, which is test that we are well done.

Benedict XVI has pointed out that God's solidarity with mankind is manifested in his Son, by becoming one with us in everything but sin; he put himself "in line with sinners"(Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 9 January 2011) and bore the sins of all people of all times.

And even more. The Pope noted, in a new way until now, that Jesus asked for the solidarity of his own in the Garden of Olives, at the moment when he saw death approaching. He asked them for "a closeness in prayer, to express, in some way, their harmony with him, at the moment when the Father's will is about to be completely fulfilled, and it is an invitation to every disciple to follow him on the way of the cross"(General Audience, Feb. 1, 2012). The entire life of the Lord, and especially his passion and death, sample that "his intercession is not only solidarity, but identifies with us: he carries us all in his body"(General Audience 1-VI-2011). This is, in fact, the true and ever-living foundation of the Church, the family of God and the seed of universal solidarity in the world.

This is why Benedict XVI invites us, especially Christians, to choose with Jesus "the logic of communion among ourselves, of solidarity and sharing. The Eucharist is the highest expression of Jesus' gift of himself and is a constant invitation to live our existence in the Eucharistic logic, as a gift to God and to others"(Homily in Venice, May 8, 2011).

Apuleius (2nd century) is credited with the phrase: "One by one, we are all mortal. Together, we are eternal. The Gospel came to emphasize that one by one we are unrepeatable, loved by God as children and, therefore, as brothers and sisters. For this reason, at the same time, it came to break the molds of individualism. And also for this reason, the gospel is the most powerful light and the greatest impulse to form leaders in solidarity.