SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Spiritually Speaking
Do you call on the
Lord daily?
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
This week’s central theme is the over-
flowing kindness and compassion of an
affectionate, loving and pardoning God.
The Prophet Jeremiah (31:7-9) clear-
ly portrays a forgiving and compassionate
God who healed the spiritual blindness
of His Chosen People, who walked from
His affectionate and caring love into the
Thankachan
path of sin, which led to captivity by the Fr.
Joseph
Babylonians. Subjecting them to cap-
tivity and then liberating them depicts a
compassionate and merciful father. The Book of Jeremiah
uses the image of the small number of people who escaped
Assyrian captivity in 721 B.C. to describe the return of
the Babylonian captives as they are led on their joyful
journey home to Jerusalem. The passage foretells God’s
promise to give His people life in all its fullness. Through
their exile and suffering, the people learned to humble
themselves and turn to God with sincere repentance.
The Letter to the Hebrews (5: 1-6) defines Jesus as
the priest of the new covenant. It compares Him to the
class of ancient priests (sympathetic and patient, not
glorifying Himself) and then distinguishes Jesus from
the others (because the Father called Jesus His Son).
The people, addressed in this letter, had been put out of
the synagogues when they accepted Jesus. The writer of
Hebrews tries to comfort them by depicting Jesus as a
superior replacement for the priests they had formerly
depended upon. The Jewish high priest was a sinner, and
his role was to offer sacrifices to God and serve as a rep-
resentative of the people. But Jesus was sinless, and He
offered Himself as a sacrifice for sins, and He continues to
act as our mediator at “the throne of grace.” Further, Jesus
the Son of God was appointed directly by God to an even
better priesthood (“the order of Melchizedek” Ps 110:4).
Hence, through Jesus the high priest, we can approach
the throne of grace with confidence and boldness, and we
can expect mercy and favor from God.
The Gospel of St. Mark (10: 46-52) describes Je-
sus’s final journey to Jerusalem through Jericho, where
He meets Bartimaeus, the blind man of Jericho: Jesus
spots a particular blind man in the crowd. (The story of
Bartimaeus is the last healing miracle recorded in the
Gospel of Mark.) The story is presented dramatically.
While the majority of those who received healing in the
New Testament are not mentioned by name, in this case,
the beggar’s name, meaning son of Timaeus, is given.
When the people told Bartimaeus the news of Jesus’s
travel through the city, he began to shout his remarkable
statement of faith: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me.” Jesus is surrounded by a large crowd. Amidst the
noise and dust, people are pushing around for attention
and beggars cry out for alms. In spite of this uproar Jesus
hears one voice crying out. Who would have expected a
messianic greeting from a blind beggar? In spite of the
crowd’s objections, Jesus stops and, recognizing Bar-
timaeus’ faith, calls the blind man to Him. (Psalm 146
proclaims that God gives sight to the blind, lifts up those
who are bowed down and loves the righteous.)
Through the healing of the blind man of Jericho
the Lord wants us to reflect: 1) Instead of remaining in
spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight. Each
one of us suffers from spiritual blindness – greed, anger,
hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits etc., which prevents
us from seeing the goodness in our neighbors and God’s
presence in them. A clear spiritual vision enables us to
see the goodness in others, to express our appreciation
for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain
from criticizing their drawbacks and performances. 2)
“Cry out” to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did. Like Bartimaeus,
we must seek Jesus with trust in His goodness and mercy.
Sometimes our fears, anger, and habitual sins prevent us
from approaching God in prayer. Even when we feel that
our prayers are not answered, we should keep calling the
Lord. 3) We need to have the courage of our convictions.
We need to be like Bartimaeus, rebuked by the crowd for
shouting for help, by refusing to be silenced by secular
leaders of our society. He kept on calling on God, “Jesus,
Son of David have pity on me” (47). Let us also call on
the Lord, like the blind man of Jericho did.
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CBEC to hold
‘drive-in’ annual
meeting
Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Cooperative (CBEC)
will be conducting their an-
nual meeting a little differ-
ently this year. “To keep our
members and employees
safe during the pandemic,
we have reached outside
the box and will be holding
an old-fashioned, outdoor
‘drive in’ annual meeting,”
the press release stated. On
November 4, 2021, at 12
noon, members are asked to
drive to the Morrow County
Fairgrounds parking lot,
facing Wilkinson Arena, for
a brief meeting to achieve a
quorum – the goal being to
update the bylaws to allow
for virtual meetings in the
future.
Attendees will be pro-
vided with a box lunch
to enjoy during the brief
meeting and a goodie bag
full of items. Members are
asked to please make sure
to vote by mail so they will
be entered into the drawing
for a very nice door prize
(one per zone). Visit the
website to see a copy of the
proposed bylaw changes:
www.cbec.cc.
It is the intention of
the board of directors to
get through these challeng-
ing times as smoothly as
possible. Fifty members
are needed to attend this
meeting to meet a quorum.
This year there are several
by-law changes that need to
pass to allow the coopera-
tive the opportunity to hold
virtual meetings. The board
of directors and Columbia
Basin Electric do not intend
to hold virtual meetings;
however, under the current
circumstances, they would
like to have the option in
place. They hope they will
not have to implement vir-
tual meetings, as they enjoy
seeing members in person
every year.
Please help your co-
operative out this year by
showing up for this brief
meeting. CBEC hopes that
everyone stays healthy and
happy for the new year and
that things return to normal
soon.
MCSD reviews state
report cards
While the district and
school report cards released
by Oregon Department
of Education do not paint
a complete picture of the
2020-21 school year, Mor-
row County School Dis-
trict continues to look at
key pieces of data in their
efforts to improve student
engagement and graduation
outcomes.
The district and high
school level report cards
provide some key infor-
mation about student suc-
cess both from the 2019-20
and 2020-21 school years.
Graduation data posted in
the report cards is reflective
of the graduating class of
2020 and highlight that at
92 percent, the district’s
graduation rate is 9 per-
cent higher than the state
average.
MCSD also maintained
the 9 th grade on-track to
graduate rates, which re-
main a solid indicator
for graduation outcomes.
Across the district, 94 per-
cent of freshmen earned
six or more credits during
their 2020-21 school year
despite the challenges of
distance and limited in-per-
son learning.
More significant is that
as the district looks across
their student demographic
groups, there are not sig-
nificant achievement gaps
between groups. Superin-
tendent Dirk Dirksen said
that one of the things the
district continually focuses
on is providing services
specific to student needs;
this work is reflected in
the graduation rates for
historically underserved
populations, which are at or
above the district and state
averages.
The district regular at-
tendance data, while not
comparable to past years
due to changes in reporting
rules, does provide some
information for buildings.
“Looking at our regular
attender rates as compared
to similar districts, we can-
not overemphasize the im-
portance of our efforts in
opening our schools to
in-person learning early in
the 2020-21 school year,”
stated Dirksen.
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to Heppner.net.
Second amendment
only thing left
To the editor;
“A well-regulated Mi-
litia, being necessary to
the security of a free State,
the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall
not be infringed What is
the militia? It is the whole
people, except a few public
officials.” (George Mason,
founding forefather)
The Second Amend-
ment was proposed by
James Madison “to allow
the creation of civilian forc-
es that can counteract a
tyrannical federal govern-
ment.” (www.britannica.
com)
The covid pandemic
has given license to the
American government (fed-
eral, state, local) to abrogate
our constitution, our lib-
erty, our personal medical
freedom; with only the
Second Amendment left to
provide the “security of a
free state.” Heppner author
Scott McEwen’s next book
on the Second Amendment
will be a must read.
Never trust govern-
ment. Our forefathers knew
full well the greatest threat
to the security of a free
state would be government,
our own. There is a nefar-
ious reason you cannot
purchase ammunition for
your firearms. The fact you
cannot find ammunition
or reloading materials is
a violation of the Second
Amendment. You cannot
keep and bear arms if you
have no ammunition. A
myriad of lawsuits bank-
rupting ammunition man-
ufacturers and a shrinking
class of investors unwilling
to take heat from leftwing
gun-control groups have
made draconian COVID
19 ammunition restrictions
a clear and present threat to
our Republic.
So, is taking up arms,
as our revolutionary fore-
fathers, the answer to the
American government
tyranny oppressing our
Republic and way of life?
This is not the same oppres-
sor our forefathers faced
centuries ago. It is vital
that we understand this is
God’s battle, not ours. “Be
not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multi-
tude; for the battle is not
yours, but God’s.” (2 Chr.
20:15) There is a growing
frustration and increasing
temptation to see either
armed force or compro-
mised resigned compliance
as the only solutions to our
present quandary.
God’s word answers
our present quandary in
Revelation 13:10. “He that
leadeth into captivity shall
go into captivity, he that
kills with the sword must
be killed with the sword.
Here is the patience and
the faith of the saints.” If
we heed to the temptation
of teachers of compromise
and compliance we will
end up in captivity. If we
will place our trust in the
sword we will die by the
sword. We must be patient
and put our faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, the God
of our forefathers. “Not by
might, nor by power, but by
my Spirit sayeth the Lord.”
Zech. 4:6. We may well be
forced to pick up the sword
but only in defense when all
other measures have been
exhausted.
Juli Kennedy is spot
on. Our battle and respon-
sibility are “to stand against
fear.” Trusting the God of
our forefather’s is the an-
tidote to the poison of fear.
Stuart Dick, Irrigon
Planning seeks volunteers
Are you interested in
land use and development?
Would you like to be a part
of setting land use policy
in Morrow County? If so,
Morrow County is seeking
volunteers to represent the
Boardman and Ione area on
the Morrow County Plan-
ning Commission.
Volunteers would be
appointed to a four-year
term ending December
2025. At the end of the
term there is the option for
re-appointment for another
four-year term if interested.
Planning Commission
meetings are held once per
month, with the option of
in-person and remote par-
ticipation with video tech-
nology. The commission
holds hearings on a variety
of land use applications.
They also review chang-
es to the Subdivision and
Zoning Ordinance and the
Comprehensive Plan. Ad-
ditionally, the commission
guides staff on other long
range planning projects
related to land use.
Being part of the plan-
ning commission is a unique
opportunity to learn about
Oregon’s Land Use Plan-
ning Program and influence
how it is implemented in
Morrow County. If you
would like to learn more
about this volunteer oppor-
tunity or the planning com-
mission you can find more
information on the Morrow
County website. Interested
persons may also contact
planning staff directly at
541-922-4624. If interested
in applying, please submit
a letter of interest to the
Morrow County Planning
Department, PO Box 40,
Irrigon, OR 97844, or by
email to gnairns@co.mor-
row.or.us by noon Friday,
December 3, 2021. The
next Morrow County Plan-
ning Commission meeting
will be on October 26,
2021, in Boardman, OR at
the Riverfront Center, Port
of Morrow.
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