Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 5, 2020 -- SEVEN
A View from the Hill
By Doris Brosnan
Just over a month ago,
Doug Gunderson moved
into Willow Creek Terrace,
on July 6. Doug is a native
Heppnerite who has been
living in the St. Patrick’s
Apartments and maybe
wanted to share his next
birthday with a larger
group of neighbors. He did
exactly that last Saturday –
Happy birthday, Doug, and
welcome.
While the Covid-19
pandemic impacts our
society in general, the
residents at Willow Creek
Terrace can generally agree
that they are not feeling
great inconveniences or
threats. The months’ long
loss of face-to-face visits
has, however, been strongly
felt, so they are pleased
that the latest mandate has
relaxed the restrictions
somewhat: By scheduling
a visit, an individual may
arrange for an outside visit
with a resident, instead
of settling for a “window
visit.” For this purpose, the
Terrace has visitation hours
from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.,
Monday through Friday,
and from 10 a.m. until 4
p.m. on weekend days.
(Editor’s note: However,
this information may
now be inaccurate as the
governor has mandated that
Morrow County revert back
to Phase One as of Friday,
July 31.)
Though window
visits continue without
restrictions, an outside
visit must be scheduled at
least two hours prior to the
visit, to ensure staff time
and availability to provide
necessary screening, set-
up, and resident assistance
to a safe area. A call to
541-676-0004 can secure a
visitation appointment and
other information about
protocols.
The current heat wave
makes the indoor activities
so inviting that negative
impacts seem negligible.
Again, the hair salon is
open for use by the four
beauticians who serve the
Community on the Hill.
Additional sports are being
offered to the Wii players
on Fridays, so additional
participants continue
to show up for those
activities. Bingo continues
to dominate Monday
afternoons and seems to be
attracting more participants,
enticed by the delicious-
tasting prizes? And Uno
now shares time with
Dominoes on Tuesdays;
again, increasing the appeal
to more Residents.
Last month featured a new
guessing game enjoyed by
almost everyone. “Name
the Staff Member” was
the challenge, as six Staff
members provided on the
wall photos from their
young days and a few
tidbits about their pasts.
One Resident identified
five of the six, while about
50% accuracy was more
common. This month,
Residents will be invited
to put their hints on the
wall, and the Staff and other
Residents will have a go at
identifying them.
Last month also featured
a social hour (with proper
spacing) at which each
resident made her/his own
ice cream sundae. This
month will feature another
social hour, the refreshment
yet to be chosen.
When the residents
are not relaxing in their
apartments, they have the
several options of activities
to take in, and they can
also choose the morning
exercises and discussions
for their social interactions.
This month’s topics will
provide opportunities
to offer opinions and to
reminisce: Respect for
Parents; Friendship; Twins;
Daughters; Vinyl Records;
“Bambi”; V-J Day; Best
Friends; Jokes; Poets: “The
Wizard of Oz”; Women’s
Right to Vote.
The month will end with
lunch outside, weather
permitting – proper
distancing, of course.
The community might be
welcoming a new person
to the staff by that time,
as an opening is available.
Persons interested in
information should contact
George Nairns, 541-676-
0004. As residents do
with their new neighbors,
they view a new face and
personality on the staff with
a welcoming attitude.
Spiritually Speaking
A Time to Encounter God & Fix Our Gaze on
Christ
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph SDB, St. Patrick Church
Our county is gone back to the first stage again
due to the increase of people who are affected by the
corona virus. In last Sunday’s readings, the Lord went to
a deserted place to get connected to the Divine Master
in order to achieve his full divine nature. As an electron-
ic gadget needs to be connected to the power plug for
charging, similarly, we can consider this time as a time
for all of us to connect with our Lord Master a little more
personally. We read the Prophet Isaiah, “Go into your
houses, my people, and shut the door behind you. Hide
yourselves for a little while until God’s anger is over”
(Isaiah 26:20). As we are faced with the pandemic lock-
down again these days, it is an opportunity to encounter
Him a little more in a personal way.
In next Sunday’s first reading, we see the flight
of Prophet Elijah from king Ahab after putting down the
false god of Baal. Elijah fled from Israel to the southern
region of Judah for refuge and he is sheltering in a cave.
Elijah has triumphed over the prophets of Baal. But soon
he realizes that Jezebel is after him to take revenge for
the death of those false prophets. He longed for the voice
of God. But the Lord asks Elijah to drop his idea of God
and the way he expects Him to appear. So, Elijah retreats
to Mount Horeb to converse with God. Elijah thinks that
God would appear to him in a clamorous way, through the
power of the wind, the earthquake, and fire. It takes some
time for him to realize that God is not in those awesome
events. He feels the presence of God in the gentle breeze.
The message is that we need to get rid of our expectations
to experience the presence of God in an extraordinary
way. In fact, God comes to us every day through people,
ordinary things, and events.
In the second reading, Paul, writing to the Ro-
mans, reminds us that no matter what bad times we may
have to go through - as we are facing now with the pan-
demic - the people/believers in Christ, must remain firm
in the faith and undaunted because we can be certain that
even in hard times God is on our side. Paul explains to
the faithful of Rome his conscience bearing witness to
Christ. Paul bowed his head to this great mystery. Rather
than question God, he made an act of faith and trust in
Him, convinced that God loved His people still, and that
in spite of their rejection of Christ, a day would come
when they would accept Him. That is why the reading
ends with a prayer of trust and of praise in Romans 9:5:
“Christ is above all; may he be blessed forever.” This
prayer of St Paul will come in handy in moments of
acute trial when we fail to understand God’s plans, when
everything becomes dark around us. It is nothing other
than the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane:
“Your will be done.” (Mt 26: 42). Let us also, like Paul,
submit ourselves to God’s loving plans when things are
not clear to us.
The story of Jesus walking on water appears in
three of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, John). But,
only in Matthew do we also see that Peter also walked
on water! The miracle story of Jesus walking on the sea,
together with the one that goes before it, the multiplication
of loaves, shows that Jesus is Lord and has authority over
all forces, natural and supernatural. The Jews believed
that the sea was the domain of supernatural demonic
forces. A rough and stormy sea was regarded as the work
of these hostile spirits. By walking on the raging waves
and calming the stormy sea, Jesus is showing himself
to be one who has power and total control over these
hostile spiritual forces. Do you know Christians who
have surrendered their lives to the Lord but who still
live in constant fear of evil spirits, sorcery, witchcraft?
The doubts that St Matthew’s church is experiencing are
expressed movingly in this Gospel. Jesus is praying to his
Father. His followers are separated from him. It is night.
They are in a boat that is battling against a rough sea and
strong winds. All seems lost. The boat clearly represents
the Church, while the storm represents the opposition the
Church is facing. Jesus calls them and tells them not to be
afraid, and then He comes to them over the water. When
Peter tries to do the same, even he seems to doubt Jesus’s
power and in panic he sinks. But Jesus supports him, and
then asks him, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
The storm ceases. Now all the disciples acknowledge that
Jesus is the Son of God.
When Peter “felt the force of the wind, he was
afraid and began to sink.” Matthew tells his struggling
Christian community that even if their faith falters and
they panic when they look at surrounding danger, Jesus
will come and save them. This is good news indeed! A
boat riding the stormy waves is a striking and well-known
image of the Church. The Church is the people of God,
and it is constantly being threatened by every possible
negative influence. Right now, we are experiencing a
storming situation in the Church due to the influence of
COVID-19. An example is the first time the church was
closed from all services during the Easter season. To
those who worry about the direction the Church takes,
Jesus cries out, “Get hold of yourselves! It is I. Do not
be afraid!” Jesus did not intend his Church to remain an-
chored offshore, through the centuries. Rather, he intended
it to ride the waves of history, serving the needs of people
of every age, including our own.
As long as Peter kept his focus on the Lord, all
went well. As soon as he forgot about the power of Jesus
and worried about the wind, he began to sink. Perhaps,
this is what faith means: Keeping our focus on the Lord,
regardless of the turmoil around us, trusting that he is
always near to support us. This kind of faith is more an
encounter with God than it is a belief about God. It is
more an experience of the divine presence itself, than an
acceptance of the dogmatic pronouncement about it. What
about us? Does this Gospel have any special meaning for
us, for our personal lives? It surely does. There are times
when the waves of misfortune - sickness, family trage-
dies, pandemic like Covid-19, financial problems - seem
to engulf us. There are times when our Christian faith is
deeply tried, and we feel like giving up in despair. Then
it is that Jesus, who loves us more than we shall ever
know, says to us, “Why are you faltering? I am with you
always. Do not be afraid.” Christ foresaw the storm and
the grave risk His apostles would run when He sent them
off across the lake. But that trial and the grave danger was
for their own good because they learned to realize that He
was from God and they could always count on Him. Our
trials and our earthly ailments are also foreseen by God
and permitted by Him (even if inflicted on us by a sinful
fellow being) so that they will draw us closer to Him and
help us on the road to heaven. May the Lord increase our
little faith so that in all the storms of life we shall have
our eyes and our trust constantly fixed on Jesus and His
power and not on ourselves and our weaknesses
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