Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 6, 2021 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
Go, sell what you have
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
Today, the readings remind us that we do not possess
anything that we refuse to surrender to the Lord. Instead,
most things often possess us, we become prisoners of our
possessions. We have given “our things”
top priority. Thus, we violate the first
commandment of God, which demands
us to give absolute and unconditional
priority to God.
The Book of Wisdom (7:7-11) de-
picts about a hundred years before the
birth of Jesus. The Jewish community Fr. Thankachan
was a minority in the cosmopolitan city Joseph
of Alexandria, Egypt. They were cut off
from the comforting religious institutions of Jerusalem,
subject to great cultural pressure from the pagan Greek
society. They were tempted to follow Greek philosophy
and morality, rather than their faith traditions. This reading
teaches that one should prefer wisdom to every other good
thing. It quotes from King Solomon’s personal valuation
of wisdom: “I preferred her (true wisdom) to scepter and
throne and deemed riches nothing in comparison with
her.” This first-century B.C. Alexandrian Jewish teacher
identifies wisdom as the greatest possession of all and
contrasts it with material possessions. True wisdom comes
from God and is the ability to see and understand things
as God sees and understands them. Only divine wisdom
can teach us how to live wisely and successfully. We are
also invited to see Jesus as Wisdom incarnate and to give
him priority over everything else in life.
The Letter to the Hebrews (4:12-13) portrays the
faith of Jewish converts to Christianity. These converts
faced the contempt of their former Jewish friends and felt
nostalgia for the institutions of Judaism that were either
absent or greatly transformed in their new religion. This
letter tries to show them in what ways the new religion of
Christianity is better than their old Jewish faith. St. Paul
tells them that “The word of God is something alive and
active: it cuts like any double-edged sword.”
Saint Mark (10: 17-30) tells the story of a very good
young man who wants to follow Jesus and who has been
deeply faithful to the teachings of God in his Jewish faith.
Yet, when Jesus asks the young man to give up all his
wealth and come and follow Him, the young man goes
away sad. God is always asking things of each of us, so
like the rich young man in so many ways: good and not
yet totally committed. We don’t know what the young
man did later on. Perhaps he ended up selling everything,
giving it to the poor, and following Jesus. But his first
response was only sadness. From today’s Gospel let us
draw some conclusions:
1) “Do something beautiful for God” by reaching out
to others. Let us give ourselves away and give lavishly.
Mother Teresa puts it in a different way: “Do something
beautiful for God. Do it with your life. Do it every day.
Do it in your own way. But do it!”
2) Share generously. Jesus was so generous that He
gave us His very self. To follow Jesus, we must have a
generous heart and be willing to give our belongings away
in order to express our generosity. In the heart of every
Christian should be a desire to give. Martin Luther says
that the man who has given his heart to God will also
give God his wallet. Let us also ask the question: “How
do I use my God-given talents for the good of others?”
3) “You are lacking one thing.” We all have something
in our lives that serves as a major obstacle to happiness
and peace. We must recognize this obstacle and address
it head-on. Let us invite God into our lives and into our
efforts to face that one obstacle to holiness. We have a
decision to make; whether to go away sad like the rich
young man or to follow Jesus and be happy.
4) We need to follow Jesus on His terms, not on ours.
Sometimes it may involve giving up things that are good.
Parents, consider all the time and personal recreation and
relaxation (all good things) given up over the years for the
sake of the children. As mothers or fathers who are also
disciples of Jesus Christ, this was required of us, and we
made the sacrifice. When we follow Jesus on His terms,
there may be certain crosses to bear, but deep down in
the core of our being is peace and joy, because we know
that we are doing our best to carry out God’s perfect will
in our lives.
VETERAN VISITS DC
-Continued from PAGE ONE
were there with flags, signs
and tears. Everyone joined
in to sing the national an-
them as part of the special
reception. “When we got
to our vehicles, we fell
in behind a motorcade to
the fairgrounds led by a
police car and a veteran’s
group on Harley Davidson
motorcycles. The welcome
and ceremony at the fair-
grounds culminated with
each vet being presented
with a handmade quilt,”
Greenup reported.
The Honor Flight Net-
work is a national network
of independent Hubs work-
ing together to honor the
nation’s veterans with an
all-expenses paid trip to the
memorials in Washington,
DC, a trip many veterans
may not otherwise be able
to take. Participation in
an Honor Flight trip gives
veterans the chance to share
this momentous trip with
other veterans, to remem-
ber friends and comrades
lost and share their stories
and experiences with each
other.
The Heppner Cemetery
Maintenance District will
hold their monthly meeting
on Tuesday, October 12,
2021. The regular meeting
will be held at 5:30 p.m.
at the Ag Service Building
conference room at 430 W
Linden Way.
Agenda items include
minutes of the previous
meeting, financial report
and cemetery operations.
Meetings of the Heppner
Cemetery Maintenance
District are open to the
public according to ORS
192.640(1). For questions,
contact Janet Greenup at
541-561-6768.
The Morrow County
Clerk’s office has released
the following report of
marriage licenses:
September 9, 2021:
- Larrie Brent Duff, 45,
Boardman, and Sosha Kath-
leen Woodruff, 40, Board-
man.
- Tehya Chrysta Nicole
Martinez, 23, Irrigon, and
Dustin Troy Hascall, 23,
Irrigon.
- Sandra Hernandez
Vera, 25, Irrigon, and Jorge
Armando Campos, 29, Ir-
rigon.
September 14, 2021:
- Jeffery Dakota Wilson,
24, Boardman, and Nicole
Marie Lutz, 27, Boardman.
September 16, 2021:
- Joseph Harry Vandecar
III, 20, Umatilla, and Kar-
rizima Elizabeth Luna, 20,
Umatilla.
September 20, 2021:
- Adam Blair Collin, 27,
Ione, and Yezmin Verduzco,
27, Condon.
September 22, 2021:
- Justin Jay Shelton, 45,
Boardman, and Anjanette
Marie Jones, 43, Boardman.
September 28, 2021:
- Richard James Drake,
66, Heppner, and Lucinda
Brigida Clement, 50, Hep-
pner.
The Morrow County
Wolf Depredation Advisory
committee will meet Tues-
day, October 12 at 7 p.m.
The meeting will take place
in the Bartholomew Build-
ing upper conference room,
110 N. Court St., Heppner.
The agenda for the
meeting will be published
on the “Meetings” page of
the Morrow County website
by the afternoon of October
8: https://www.co.morrow.
or.us/meetings. The meet-
ing is open to the public
and an option to attend
electronically will be listed
at the end of the agenda.
For questions, please
contact the Morrow County
board of commissioner’s
office, 541-676-5613.
Cemetery district
plans meeting
Marriage Licenses
Wolf committee
schedules meeting
A View from the Green
Over the Tee Cup
Willow Creek Country the 2021 season on Septem-
Club ladies held a scramble ber 28.
for their last day of golf of
Winners of the scram-
ble were the teams of Vir-
ginia Grant and Kris Lind-
ner taking first place, Karen
Thompson and Pat Dough-
erty in second and Tiffany
Clement and Pat Edmund-
son coming in third.
Good News Only
By Doris Brosnan
How thoughtful: Last
Friday, my poor timing had
me waiting in line at the gas
station with my one-gallon
mower-gas container. Wait-
ing behind rigs that shouted
“hunters” at every available
pump but one. At that one,
I waited to follow a motor-
cycle rider, with whom I
struck up a conversation.
And as his tank was full,
he insisted that I hand over
my container so he could
fill it on his dime.. (Okay,
actually his $3.60). Such a
kind young man who had
just visited his mother in
La Pine and was headed to
see his brother in Spokane.
Flu season com -
ing up, right? So, sever-
al want-to-be-vaccinated
individuals were disap-
pointed by the cancellation
of the MC Health Dept’s
flu-vaccination clinic last
Wednesday. But a call to
the department learned that
possible dates for a clinic
are being studied, and in
the meantime, flu shots are
available at Murray Drugs.
That alternative is a “real
shot in the arm.”
Ione sports fans were so
pleased to see such good re-
porting of their teams in the
Heppner Gazette. Sources
say they hope for more of
the same.
Ooh-Rah.. Austin Mo-
ses, graduate of Heppner
High School, is graduating
from Marine Boot Camp on
October 15. He is the son of
Seth Moses and grandson of
Kathie McGowan. Kathie
is driving to San Diego
with a friend to enjoy all
the activities, family day
and graduation day. You
might remember Austin. He
worked at Heppner Family
Foods as a cashier.
Good news for anyone
looking for rocks useful in
landscaping: Christopher
and Andrea Bruhn recently
bought the Dale Holland
house on Gale Street, and
they have a back yard filled
with so many flat rocks,
they want to share. Simply
call 971-282-6682 to get
an appointment for some
rock-hauling. Welcome to
Heppner, Christopher, An-
drea and Richie.
Good looking wheels
that Randall Peterson is
“scootering” the street on.
Be aware, Randall, that
speed limits do exist.
Marjorie Gorham cele-
brated her 98 th birthday last
Saturday, sharing cupcakes
made by her daughter, Kar-
en Wolff, with well-wishers
who came by.
Christopher Rea has
been up from CA to visit
parents, Keith and Judy,
and was there to celebrate
the two men’s birthdays
together.
Roxanna Lou was
born on September 12 th
at 7:17 to parents Nacho
and Rachel Elguezabal of
McMinnville. Maternal
grandparents are John and
Amy Adamski and pater-
nal grandparents are Juan
and MaryAnn Elguezabal.
Roxanna joins big brother,
John, who is four. Lots of
changes for this family, as
they moved to McMinnville
in August and Nacho began
working as a first-grade
teacher for the McMin-
nville school district in
September.
Marlene Gray became
president of Rebekah Lodg-
es of Oregon in May. As
such, she has been and
will continue to be visiting
the lodges throughout the
state. Traveling with Mar-
lene is her state marshal,
LaRae Kindle, so we know
both humor and seriousness
travel with them. They also
expect to attend the March
conference of the north-
west region of Rebekahs,
in Canada.
Some good news for
readers who are worriedly
wondering: City Hall re-
ports that the cement people
will be back in a couple of
weeks to finish sidewalks
(interrupted by another
job commitment) and the
paving of streets should
follow that in about another
week. So, in the world of
infrastructure construction
schedules that can be disap-
pointments for locals, that
schedule is probably going
to bring everything to an
end at just about the orig-
inal November prediction.
Since the work is not ahead
of schedule as first hoped,
however, Jones Street and
Willow View Drive work
will be on hold until warmer
weather returns.
Fall has brought an
after-summer-break return
of several activities for
area women, including the
Ione-Lexington pinochle
group that has been play-
ing (now with four original
members) for about 60
years, meeting last week at
Perks and Brews in Ione;
and the Ione Topic Club,
meeting on September 30
for lunch and discussion of
their November book-fair
fund raiser for the school.
New members are wel-
comed, says Betty Gray;
and the Ladies Community
Bible Study that meets on
Thursdays at 1:00 at the
Ione Community Church.
Interested in information?
Call Kelly Christman or
Verna Basford.
How relaxing, refresh-
ing to read of some positive
happenings. Your news can
contribute to that pleas-
ant experience if you send
your “good-news tidbits”
before Monday afternoon
to dbrosnan123@gmail.
com, or call 541-676-5382
or 541-223-1490 or stop me
on the street.
Here’s hoping that
some good news comes to
everyone reading this.
TIME TO PLAN
for next year.
Bank of Eastern Oregon
offers Operating Lines of Credit
and term loans on Equipment and Land.
Call out to Morrow County
Bi-Mart Pharmacy customers.
We’d be happy to help you!
217 North Main St.,
Heppner, OR
Phone 676-9158 Floral 676-9426
murraysdrug.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-6pm • Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 9am-2pm
Pharmacy- Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
HEPPNER
IONE
279 N. Main Street
(541) 676-9125
AMBER SCHLAICH
280 Main Street
(541) 422-7466
RUSSELL SEEWALD
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
Specializing in Agricultural
& Commercial Loans.
Member FDIC