TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 2, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student
subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor
Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will
be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Pioneer Memorial
Hospice sells
ornaments for
Remembrance Tree
Purchase an ornament for your
loved one
The holidays are a spe-
cial time of year when we
reflect and treasure the
memories of those who
have died. This season you
can share a friend or loved
one’s memory by purchas-
ing an ornament with their
name and display it on the
community Remembrance
Tree or your own tree.
The Remembrance
Tree is prominently dis-
played in the Main Street
window of Sage Clothing
Company in Heppner. Or-
naments can be purchased
for $15 each.
Molly Rhea, Direc-
tor of Pioneer Memori-
al Hospice, states, “The
funds we raise from the
Remembrance Tree help
us provide the extras that
many hospice clients need
to stay comfortable and
live their lives to the fullest.
Purchasing a delightful rus-
tic ornament, hand made by
Kelsie Worden, will provide
funds for supplementing
hospice clients lives.”
This past year fund-
raising dollars have been
used for massages to ease
pain, Halloween costumes
for children coping with
the loss of their father,
technology to record voice
histories, equipment to
transfer hospice clients
from wheelchair to vehicle
seats and for reaching out to
isolated clients to provide
them with creative and
interesting gift bags. “Our
Personalize an ornament
with your loved one’s name.
hospice team strives to un-
derstand how to support our
clients and families in their
last months,” says Jackie
Alleman, volunteer coor-
dinator. “Sometimes we
need funds not provided by
traditional means to obtain
items that would enrich our
clients and improve the last
months.”
Pioneer Memorial
Hospice strives to main-
tain quality of life during
terminal illness. Hospice
provides physical, social,
emotional, psychological
and spiritual support by
a team of professionals
consisting of physicians,
nurses, counselors, ther-
apists, aids, bereavement
specialists and volunteers
specializing in quality of
life medicine. Hospice care
is available for anyone de-
siring supportive care when
curative treatment is no lon-
ger effective or desired, and
life expectancy can be mea-
Spiritually Speaking
Prepare the way for the Lord
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph SDB, St. Patrick Church
In the season of Advent, the church extends to us the
call of John the Baptist to repent and confess our sins
in preparation for the One who is to come. The Church
presents him as the messenger/ herald of the Savior. We
are familiar with announcements that inform us that
something is going to happen or is expected to take place.
For example, in the airports and railway stations, we hear
announcements of the arrival/departure of a train or a
plane that we are waiting for. If the person for whom we
are waiting is very dear to us, that announcement doubles
our joy and excitement because we will soon see the one
for whom we were waiting. This second Sunday of Advent
brings tidings to all of us that God is coming soon. Do
we believe it or not? Do we look forward to His arrival?
Are we prepared to welcome Him?
The prophet Isaiah (40: 1-5, 9-11) assures the people
of Israel comfort and solace. He reminds the people of
Jerusalem to prepare the way for the Savior/Messiah.
The prophet urges the people of his time to cut down
the mountains that they have created of jealousy, envy,
hatred, and fill the valleys of broken relationships with
love, affection, and concern for one another. The Israel-
ites are asked to prepare in the wilderness a way for the
Lord. They should not wait passively for things to happen
but should be active and vigorous in preparing for the
coming of the Lord. The preparation is not an external
preparation but a preparation of the heart and a removal
of all unwanted elements of human values and principles,
anything that does not fit in with God’s coming. We are to
make a freeway for the Lord to enter our hearts.
The Second Letter of St. Peter (3: 8-14) speaks about
the delay of the Lord’s coming. The Lord will come like a
thief, so be prepared is the idea Peter delivers to his read-
ers. He admonishes his listeners that they should never
forget “that with the Lord ‘a day’ can mean a thousand
years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not
slow to carry out his promises.” If the Lord is delaying
His coming, it is for a purpose - to give his people more
time to repent and come back to him. St. Peter urges his
readers to remain unblemished and spotless as you wait
eagerly for the coming of the Lord.
The Gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of Mark
(1:1-8), which highlights the life and lifestyle of John the
Baptist. His role was to be the messenger announcing the
coming of the Messiah. He would be the voice crying
out in the wilderness, “Prepare a way for the Lord, make
his paths straight.” The highlight of the heralder was one
of repentance, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins. He invited everyone to change
and repent and experience a conversion of heart. John’s
preaching and personal life had a dynamic impact on the
people. They came forth in large numbers to be baptized
by him and they showed readiness to change their lifestyle
and come back to the Lord. What does it mean to prepare
a way for the coming of the Lord today? Where do we
seek God and where will we find him?
In today’s Gospel we have the plain, yet powerful,
message for all ages:
a. John preached con-
demnation. He preached
the actual fact of that time,
that the people had become
like “vipers,” poisonous
because of the addictions,
depression, anxiety, etc.
They had allowed them-
selves to be poisoned and
were poisonous to others.
They were sick and disas-
Fr. Thankachan Joseph
ter-prone, and they were
biting others, making them
sick and dooming them.
b. John preached repentance. All those who ap-
proached him for the baptism he told to first repent and
then produce fruit. And the fruit must be worthy, consis-
tent with repentance – fruit that shows a changed heart
and a turning away from sin.
c. John preached against pride. The teaching of John
urges us to get rid of our pride. The Pharisees felt that
the righteousness of their forefathers saved them. How
they lived mattered very little. Similarly, we can think,
“I have godly parents, I have been baptized, I am better
than so many, I belong to the church and attend church
activities regularly etc.
d. John preached social justice. We are in fact faced
with a pandemic. Do we reach out to the one who needs
our help and assistance? John told the people to share
their surplus food and clothes with the starving and the
naked. To the business class he said not to rob the people,
just collect what they were entitled to and no more. To
the people in power he said, “Do not abuse your power.
Do not intimidate people or use violence against them.”
e. John preached the Messiah’s coming. The Messiah
was more worthy and more powerful than he. “I baptize
you with water, but he with the Holy Spirit.”
We are all invited to make some sort of changes for
the reception of the Lord during this Christmas time. We
are urged to “go straight,” namely to give up dishonest,
crooked and sinful ways and to walk the path of integrity,
honesty and truth. We are invited to proclaim the Lord
through our simplest way of life and action, as John
showed to us through his life. We don’t have to do great
things; even in the simplest and most ordinary of tasks we
can look for God, find Him and serve Him. Don Bosco
would say, “Doing the little things in an extraordinary
way.”
to the patient’s bedside at
home, offering practical
and emotional support to
the patient and their family.
More information is
available by calling or stop-
ping by the office at 162
Main Street in Heppner,
541-676-2946.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
sured in weeks or months.
Medicare, Medicaid and
most insurance companies
pay for hospice services. At
Pioneer Memorial Hospice
care is not withheld because
of inability to pay. PMH
brings crucial elements of
medical and nursing care
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Wolf committee
meeting planned
The next meeting of the
Morrow County Wolf Dep-
redation Advisory Commit-
tee will be Tuesday, Decem-
ber 8 at 7 p.m. at Heppner
City Hall, 111 N. Main St.
The primary topic on the
agenda will be the review of
applications for grant funds,
as well as agency updates,
such as the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
The agenda will be
posted to the meetings page
of the Morrow County web-
site, https://www.co.mor-
row.or.us/meetings, by 5
p.m. on Friday, December
4. Please contact Commit-
tee Chair Dean Robinson at
541-980-2350 or the office
of the Board of Commis-
sioners at 541-676-5613
with any questions.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Morrow County Foster Children Gift Drive
C ome take a tag from our g iving t ree .
r eturn unwrapped gift by d eCember 9 th with tag attaChed .
y ou don ’ t have to purChase everything on the list .
g ive what you Can .
i f you take a tag , please buy the gift .
i f you Change your mind , bring the tag baCk and put it
on the tree .
124 N. MAIN STREET HEPPNER OR 541-676-9481