A Dumbarton minister urged politicians ‘to listen with the ears of your hearts to the needs of the people’ during a passionate address at Holyrood.
Rev Heller Gonzalez of St Augustine’s Scottish Episcopal Church on Dumbarton High Street delivered the Time for Reflection speech at Holyrood last Tuesday, opening up on his journey from Cuba to Scotland.
In his address, Rev Gonzalez said that he has been left heartbroken by the number of local people struggling during the cost-of-living crisis, but hailed the community spirit that made him instantly feel at home in Dumbarton.
Rev Gonzalez said: “Twenty years ago, my family and I, like many Cubans before and since, were forced to flee my country. Travelling into the unknown is a frightening experience. For the next 12 years, Spain would be my new home.
“In 2015, an opportunity arose to live and work in Scotland.
“The Scottish Episcopal Church welcomed my wife and me, which heralded the beginning of a new life serving as an associate priest at the Episcopal churches in Kilmacolm, Port Glasgow and Bridge of Weir. Six years of cultural discovery and learning followed.
“Then, two years ago, a further new chapter began for us; my ministry took me to the other side of the Clyde, to Dumbarton.
“Here I was to find a wonderful welcoming community spirit.
“It is no secret that deprivation and unemployment have affected many areas in West Dunbartonshire.
“The former industries of glassmaking and shipbuilding have now all but disappeared. For such a small place, the number of people struggling is heartbreaking.
“Local churches and community groups have pulled together to support those in need.
“Church community halls are functioning as warm hubs where free lunches are provided. A listening ear is offered to those with little hope, the broken, the fearful, the abused, those struggling with addiction and the lonely. To the people we serve and to us, that is important work.
“As a result of the cost-of-living crisis, we have seen a sharp increase in the need for those hubs.
“As is often the case, people of good will and compassion have come forward when most needed.
“The opening words of the Rule of St Benedict sum it up beautifully. There needs to be a “listening with the ears of our hearts”.
“As you all strive to make Scotland a better place for all, may it be given to you to listen with the ears of your hearts to the needs of the people of this country.”
Rev. Gonzalez was nominated to lead the Time for Reflection by Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie.
She said: “It was a joy to hear Rev Gonzalez deliver Time for Reflection. From fleeing his native Cuba 20 years ago, the rector has made it his mission to improve the lives of others and he is certainly doing that in Dumbarton now.
“St Augustine’s is a welcoming church and the entire church community comes together to reach out to everyone, particularly those who have fallen on hard times for a variety of reasons.
“Rev Gonzalez’s speech certainly struck a chord with me as I am sure it did with all of the members in the chamber to listen to his worthwhile contribution.
“I want to thank him, his wife Maria Montserrat Aparicio Arias, and members of St Augustine’s for making the trip to Edinburgh to take part.”
