FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Spiritually Speaking
COUNTY STATS
-Continued from PAGE ONE
category at around 639,387
each. Boardman is 29 th
with a population of 3,340.
Condon, Fossil and Wasco
bring up the rear with 655,
503 and 371 respectively.
Median Income: Mor-
row County is 11 th in median
income at $55,440, ahead of
25 other counties. High-
est are Washington with
$78,010, Clackamas with
$76,597 and Multnomah
with $64,337. Lowest are
Harney with $41,797, Lake
with $36,627 and Wheeler
with $33,456.
Financial Hardship:
Morrow County is one
of the lowest in terms of
households suffering finan-
cial hardship at number 31
with 42 percent of house-
holds. Umatilla County is
20 th , along with six oth-
er counties at 45 percent.
Crook County is the highest
with 56 percent; Deschutes
is lowest at 35 percent.
Age: Rural commu-
nities show the highest
percentage of people in the
age range of 55-74; with
urban communities having
the highest in the age range
of 20-44. Life expectancy
in Morrow County is 81
years, along with Gilliam,
Clackamas and Deschutes.
The highest life expectancy
is Benton County at 83,
with Wheeler, Washington,
Grant and Hood River at 82.
The lowest is Curry County
at 76.
Race/Ethnicity: Ore-
gon as a whole is 76 percent
white, with 12.8 percent
Hispanic/Latino, 4.2 per-
cent Asian, 3.7 percent two
or more races, 1.8 percent
Black/African American,
.9 percent American Indian/
Alaska native, .4 percent
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Is-
lander and .2 percent some
other race.
Rural vs Urban Race/
Ethnicity: In rural Oregon
83.9 percent of the resi-
dents are white, 9.8 percent
Hispanic/Latino, 2.8 per-
cent two or more races, 1.5
percent American Indian/
Alaska Native, 1.3 percent
Asian, .5 percent Black/Af-
rican American, .1 percent
Native Hawaiian/Pacific
Island and some other race.
In urban Oregon 72.5
percent of the population
is white, 14.2 percent His-
panic/Latino, 5.6 percent
Asian, 4 percent two or
more races, 2.4 percent
Black/African American,
.5 percent Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander; .2 percent
some other race.
Employment Indus-
tries: The top employment
industries in Oregon are
educational services and
food/drinking services.
Others include: hospitals,
ambulatory health care
services, crop production,
food manufacturing, ad-
ministrative and support
services, accommodation,
animal production, for-
estry and logging, wood
product manufacturing,
justice, public order and
safety activities, nursing
and residential care facil-
ities, executive legislative
and general government,
professional and technical
service, social assistance,
truck transportation, waste
management and remedia-
tion services, computer and
electronic product manu-
facturing and primary metal
manufacturing.
Job Growth: Morrow
County ranks third at 28 in
terms of job growth (net
change is the estimated
number of full-time and
part-time jobs performed
between last year and the
year before per 1,000 resi-
dents in the county). Sher-
man County and Hood
River County are first and
second with 45.6 percent
and 30.4 percent. Wasco
and Crook counties are 35 th
with a -2.1 and 36 th with a
-2.6.
Unemployment Rate:
Morrow County is 23 rd with
4.3 percent unemployment;
Grant County is first with
7.3 percent; Benton County
is last with 3.2 percent.
Labor Force Partic-
ipation Rate (16 years or
older employed or active-
ly seeking work): 11 th in
Morrow County with 59.1
percent; 12 th in Umatilla
County with 58.6 percent;
highest in Multnomah with
69.2 percent; lowest in
Curry County with 41.5
percent.
Property Tax Per Per-
son: Morrow County is
third with $2,670, preceded
by Gilliam with the highest
at $4,531 per person and
Sherman with $3,936. The
lowest are Douglas and
Josephine with $882 per
person.
Low Weight Births:
Morrow County is second
in the state in the number
of babies who weigh less
than 5.5 pounds at birth
with 10.3 percent. Gilliam
is first with 23.5 percent
and Klamath is third with
9.5 percent. Umatilla is 17 th
with 6.8 percent.
Kindergarten Ready
(Letter Sounds): Morrow
is 13 th with 8.5 percent;
Wheeler is top with 12.9
percent; Jefferson is last
with 4.3 percent.
Ninth Grade on
Track: 92 percent in Mor-
row County; 96.7 percent
in Wallowa; 86.5 percent
in Umatilla; last, Wheeler
County with 33.3 percent.
Five-Year High School
Graduation Rate: Morrow
is 15 th with an 83.2 percent
graduation rate. Lowest is
Wheeler County with a 27
percent rate. Wallowa is
highest with a 93.1 percent
rate, followed by Gilliam
with 91.2 percent.
Four-Year College
Degree or Greater: Mor-
row is last with 10.9 per-
cent. Benton is highest with
53.6, followed by Mult-
nomah with 44.5 percent
and Washington with 43.7
percent.
Foster Care (number
of children in a county in
foster care per 1,000 in the
population under 18 years
of age): Morrow is 27 th in
the state with 5.3; Gilliam is
highest with 28.9; Umatilla
is 23rd with 7.4; Sherman
and Wheeler are last with
zero each.
Child Poverty (chil-
dren under 18 who live in
families whose incomes fall
below the Federal Poverty
Level): Morrow, 12 th in the
state with 22.8 percent.
Highest is Malheur county
with 34.7 percent; third is
Umatilla with 27.2 per-
cent; lowest is Clatsop with
9.4 percent. Not ranked
were Gilliam, Sherman and
Wheeler counties.
Crime: Morrow is 20 th
with 20.4 crime offenses
per thousand residents;
Wallowa is last with .1;
Multnomah is highest with
47.4; Umatilla is 10 th with
25.1.
Food Insecurity: Mor-
row County is last with only
8.3 percent of individuals
who have limited or un-
certain access to adequate
food. Lake, Harney and
Coos rank first, second and
third.
Good Physical Health:
Morrow County is second
from the last in percentage
of adults reporting that they
have had no poor physical
health days in the prior
month with 47.9 percent.
Wheeler County is last with
29.7 percent; Crook is first
with 73.1; Harney, second
with 69.8 and Gilliam, third
with 68.7 percent.
Good Mental Health:
Morrow, however, is the
first in reporting that 70.9
Christ the King of the universe
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph SDB, St. Patrick Church
Kingship in the Scriptures always stands for service,
love, and care. Christ, the Eternal King, came as a servant
for the poor, the sick, the downtrodden and the sinner.
The differences between the kingship of Christ and that
of other kings of this world are that (1) Other kingdoms
have territorial boundaries, but the kingship of Christ is
universal. Christ is king without boundaries/borders. (2)
Other kingdoms come and go, but the kingship of Christ
is eternal. (3) The third aspect of earthly kingdoms is sus-
tained by military power, whereas the kingship of Christ
is sustained by the power of truth. The subjects of Christ’s
kingdom must, therefore, stand by the truth even when
it is hurting and humiliating to do so. Jesus has acquired
this kingdom for us, at a great price, with his blood shed
on the cross. He conquered the world with his uncon-
ditional love. As St. Paul writes, as followers of Christ
we are called to fight, “For our wrestling is not against
flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against
the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”
(Ephesians 6:12). Christ’s kingdom is a very special
kingdom. Christ our King is an unusual King: He came
to the world not for power, not for honor. He came not
to be served but to serve. Christ has called His disciples
and the Church to be faithful servants. Christ wanted
His followers to be renewed and to bring the world unity
and reconciliation as He did to the world (2 Cor 5:17). In
our world where there is devastation of human lives and
broken relationships, we as a church are reminded once
again that our mission is to engage in peace-making and
proclaim the good news of unity in Christ.
The prophet Ezekiel (34:11-12, 15-17) describes
Lord God as the shepherd of his people. The allegory of
the shepherd is one of the primogenital and most familiar
images used to describe God’s tender loving care for His
flock - contradictory to the wicked shepherd, unfaithful
kings, and false leaders who misguided the people, led
them astray, and used them for their own selfish benefits.
Yahweh is a faithful God who never stops caring for His
people. Isaiah visualizes the coming Messianic King as
the Shepherd King who will embody God’s care and con-
cern for His people. If the people have gone astray, it is
because of poor leadership. They deserve a good shepherd
who will lead them along the right path. While Ezekiel is
aware of the need of good leaders, he reminds the people
that they, too, have a responsibility of walking along the
right path. Ultimately, God will assume leadership of His
people, but the people have to walk in faith and follow in
the footsteps of the Shepherd. We have a responsibility
to God and for God every day of our lives.
In Saint Paul’s Letter to First Corinthians (15:20-
26,28), Paul reminds his listeners to look at God’s master
plan and to focus on how Jesus is the centerpiece of this
plan. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Christ
puts the finishing touch to God’s plan. Jesus will appear
in kingly majesty and lead the new creation to worship
and adore the divine majesty of God. The resurrection of
Christ is the definitive climatic point of salvation history.
As one man, Adam brought death to the world, so through
Jesus we have received eternal life.
The Gospel of Matthew
(25:31- 46) illustrates the
scene of the last judgment,
but the purpose of pre-
senting this scene is not to
portray Jesus as an austere
and frightening judge. We
need to realize that in our
tradition, we are our own
judges. Freedom, our great-
est gift, brings along with
it the responsibility to pass Fr. Thankachan Joseph
judgement on ourselves.
The role of Jesus is simply to remind us of the things that
Christians need to be concerned about when they pass this
important judgement on themselves.
This Gospel highlights the criteria we need to bear in
mind when we evaluate our lives: man will be judged on
how he acts towards his neighbor. “What you did to the
least of my brothers you did unto me.” The passage gives
us the opportunity to see the presence of Jesus anywhere
there are people who are suffering and to realize that in
reaching out to the needy, we touch Christ Himself. This
is how Jesus lived His life; this is how Jesus exercised
kingship and leadership – identifying Himself with the
little ones, the outcasts of society. The failure to recog-
nize Jesus in the needy and the suffering results in our
being separated and alienated from the kingdom of God.
We have passed judgement on ourselves by refusing to
acknowledge God in our midst in the “little ones.” Our
focus has to be on preparing for a kingdom, faithful to the
example of a loving and constantly caring King.
The feast day of Christ the King offers us not only
with the opportunity to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and
Master, but it also is an affirmation of human dignity over
all attempts to subject people to systems and ideologies,
because His kingdom is a kingdom of justice, love and
truth, inaugurated by Jesus Himself. As the theologian
Reinhold Neibuhr pointed out, “Any justice which is only
justice soon degenerates into something that is less than
justice. It must be saved by something that is more than
justice.” And “something more than justice” is found in
the life of self-sacrificing love lived by Christ our King
and bequeathed to us by him.” – Patrick Labelle. Another
writer puts it well. Barclay’s explanation goes like this,
“God will judge all of us in accordance to our reaction
to human need. God’s judgment does not depend on
the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame we have
acquired, or the fortune we have gained, but on the help
we have given.”
The good news is that the challenge Jesus gives us
is simple and our mission is to engage in peace-making
and proclaim the good news of unity in Christ. And it can
be fulfilled by anybody. Jesus simply tells His followers
to be kind to one another. Look after the poor, visit the
sick, give food to the hungry. We can all do this, and so
we become a part of God’s kingdom and by doing this we
can proclaim Christ as the King of the Universe.
percent of adults saying
that they had no days of
poor mental health. Lake
is second with 69.4; Crook
is third with 65.5 percent;
and Umatilla is 4 th with
64.5 percent. The last five
include Multnomah, Lane,
Grant, Baker and Jefferson.
Tobacco Use: Morrow
is seventh in the state with
36.7 percent of adults using
tobacco. Baker is highest
with 39.6 percent; Gilliam,
Sherman and Wasco are
second with 39.3 percent.
Broadband Access:
Morrow, with 77.6 percent
is 27 th in the state in terms
of households served by
broadband internet. Benton
county is the highest 99
percent, followed by Mari-
on, Multnomah, Deschutes
and Polk. Lowest are Har-
ney with 45.1 percent and
Wheeler with zero percent.
Child Care: Morrow
County is second to last
with 10 childcare slots per
100 children under 13 years
sold. Lake County is last
with three and Jefferson
County is first with 28,
followed by Wheeler and
Benton with 26.
Va c c i n a t i o n R a t e
(two-year-olds): Morrow
County is 8 th in the state
with 75 percent, tying with
Clackamas and Wallowa.
The highest is Hood River
with 83 percent and the
lowest is Curry with 59
percent. No information is
provided for Wheeler
Mobile Homes: Mor-
row County is first in this
category with 30.7 of hous-
ing units reported as mo-
bile homes, followed by
Harney, Sherman and Lake
counties. Multnomah is last
with 1.8 percent.
Vehicle Miles Trav-
eled Total: Morrow Coun-
ty is 26 th in the state for
vehicle miles traveled on
Voter Participation:
Morrow County is near
the last with 63.1 percent
of registered voters who
participated in the 2018
biennial general elections;
Wheeler County is first with
83.6 percent; Umatilla is
last with 57.1 percent.
Oregon by the Num-
bers contains key measures
for Oregon and its counties.
It is published annually by
the Ford Family Foundation
and Oregon State Universi-
ty Extension Service. This
year the report was pro-
Oregon state-owned high-
ways. First is Multnomah
with 3,118; second, third
and fourth are Clackamas,
Marion and Washington
with around 1,800-plus
each. Last is Wheeler with
20.
Vehicle Miles Trav-
eled (per capita): Morrow
ranks 4 th with 17,282 miles
traveled per person, with
Gilliam first at 89,471,
Sherman 2 nd at 74,350 and
Baker, 3 rd with 18,455.
Washington and Benton are
35 th and 36 th with 3,048 and
2,812 per person.
Transit Service: Mor-
row is 33 rd with 3.5 per-
cent of residents served by
public transit, followed by
Gilliam, Lake and Sherman
with no residents served
by public transport. Mult-
nomah is the highest with
85.9 percent.
Developed or Culti-
vated Land: Morrow is 9 th
with 30 percent of total land
cover classified as devel-
oped or cultivated (includes
pasture). Umatilla is 8 th at
32.8 percent; first is Marion
County with 46.9 percent;
last is Grant County with
1.2 percent.
Publicly Owned
Lands: Morrow is 30 th with
16.7 percent of publicly
owned land; Malheur is first
with 78.4 percent; Umatilla
is 27 th with 26.7 percent.
duced in truly historic times
– global pandemic, eco-
nomic crisis, catastrophic
fires and increasing national
awareness of structural in-
equities in the society.
Readers of past Oregon
by the Numbers will notice
a few changes this year. As
with prior years, the hope
is Oregon by the Numbers
helps readers learn some-
thing about where they
live as well as other parts
of the state. One goal is to
help all of Oregon see all
of Oregon.
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