Scottish Catholic Observer

In Ecuador the heart rules

I have chosen the above title not merely because the memories of St Valentine’s Day when words and gestures of eternal love were celebrated on the streets and balconies of our rather small village, from early evening till late on at night, if not into the following morning are still commented on.

It was a day when national newspapers held a truce regarding the political campaign which was in full swing at the time and  extolled rather the bliss and virtues of the ‘Jupiters and Cupiters’ of this world. Sentimentalism reigned supreme.

The heart rules is also the explanation of the passionate political campaign, which was being weighed in the country in preparation for the local and regional elections. It is difficult to believe that with a budget, not that much bigger than a middle class family budget in Scotland, nine different parties can spend two months holding parades, marches, musical festivals to round up people so as to give them the opportunity to hear of their master plan to transform the village of 14,000 electors into a modern prosperous mini-metropolis.

The supporters are just gathering. In one of my parishes there are nine different political parties— each with the firm conviction that they are God’s appointed organisation to lead the town to wealth and prosperity.

Sentiment and emotion is on parade in the regional elections. A caravana—a convoy of lorries, vans and trucks, filled with enthusiastic party followers waving their banners and extolling the merits of their hero—has just passed my door. The number on the banners is 62. Is it possible that there are 62 candidates for the mayorship of the country’s towns and cities! The heart rules.

On a more individual level the call of the heart is also felt very deeply. A young girl—sweet 16—from a rather affluent family abandoned her studies and ran away from home to be with her boyfriend who was from a very poor family in my parish. After weeks of negotiations involving both families I married the young couple in the parish church. That was just over a year ago. During the week both of them were riding on a motorcycle and a service bus crashed into them. It seemed that the girl had escaped serious injury and she was attending to her husband who was stretched out on the road unconscious. The police arrived, looked at the boy and then said to the girl: “We will take you to hospital, your boyfriend is dead.” When she heard these fatal words she had heart failure and dropped dead. The boy is recovering in hospital. The heart rules.

The call of the heart is deeply felt here in Ecuador. There is something noble and appealing about such an attitude to life but, as we all know, the heart can also deceive; lead us along ragged roads where survival is difficult; and can abandon us when need is most. Would the perfect combination be an Ecuadorean heart and a Scottish mind?

Care of the sick

We have formed a group of people in both parishes who attend to the spiritual welfare of the sick and housebound.

On the international day dedicated to those suffering from illness we were able to visit the housebound, give those chronically ill, the Sacrament of the Sick and gift them a food parcel. It was quite a task but it was thoroughly worthwhile. I can see clearly that people of deep faith can face pain and suffering and yet enjoy internal peace and joy. I always come away saying that we must never forget nor abandon the chronically ill. It is as much an obligation of faith as is going to Sunday Mass. It is the example that Jesus Christ left with us and which we cannot ignore.

Both towns where I work are divided into barrios—neighbourhoods—representing the different times and groups of people who established themselves in the area. In one town there are 20 barrios and ten in the other. Every week a small group of volunteers go round each house of one particular barrio and collect food to make parcels for the poor. In the past three months a total of 290 parcels have been delivered to needy people. The poor are helped in this way and the community is made more conscientious of their responsibility to their ‘brothers and sisters in need.’

Solidarity rather than charity

A solidarity group in the parish also attends to housing improvements of elderly people whose houses are falling into disrepair. There are many such cases but our resources are limited. Houses have been built by the solidarity group. They do not have doors or windows (many other houses are in similar conditions). They might not compare with the most advanced apartment in Glasgow’s west end, but they are certainly a great improvement on what was there previously, before the roof and the walls toppled inwards.

The fishing industry provides employment for more than 90 per cent of the people of the parish. There are many different types of fishing: medium sized trawlers that go out into the open sea for a few hundred miles; small open boats which use nets or hooks and fish within 200 miles of land (there are about 300 of such boats in the parish); and there are those who fish nearer the shore for prawns, crabs and small lobsters.

The life of the inshore fisherman is hard and punishing. In an open boat they have to face the blazing sun during the day and then the cold currents that come up from the Antarctic at night. Fishing is also a family business. Four boxes of hooks have to be baited every second day and there are 400-500 hooks on each line. It really is quite a task.

From an early age children are taught to be part of the family economy in their struggle to survive. Children are even employed in building their home. Even the youngest makes a valiant contribution and is proud to do so. I ask you, have we anything to learn from this experience within our family circles?

- If anyone wishes to support Fr Colin MacInnes’ missionary effort, donations can be made out to Scottish Catholic Observer Charity Appeal, 19 Waterloo St, Glasgow, G2 6BT