Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 23, 2022 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
Lent a Time to
Return to the
Father
By Fr. Thankachan Jo-
seph
As our Lenten ob-
servances move into the
fourth week, and I am re-
flecting on the personali-
ties of three persons men-
tioned in the parable of the
Prodigal Son found in the
Gospel of Luke (15:11-
32).
The Loving Father
resembles a modern father
who gives into his chil-
dren out of love. When
the younger boy demands
his share of property, the
father allows this, for if
forced to stay home, home
would be a prison for him.
But the father knows that
his son is immature and
knows not what he is do-
ing. After the son’s prema-
ture departure from home,
the father waits on his
front porch every night,
watching the road from
the city, hoping that some
realization will dawn on
the son. People who watch
him say, “Hey, Mister, you
ought to be declared ‘Fa-
ther of the year.’” But the
father continues to wait
every night until darkness,
when he goes inside to
bed, saying a tearful prayer
for his lost but always dear
son, as many parents do
these days. Then one eve-
ning, his heart explodes
with excitement. He sees
a figure coming down the
road. He can tell... it is his
son coming home! The fa-
ther runs down the road,
his heart pounding, tears
of relief rolling down his
cheeks. He hugs his boy
tightly, his wracking sobs
of joy shaking his body.
The boy is saying some-
thing about not being
worthy to come home as
a son and asking only to
hire on as a field worker.
The father hears nothing
of this. His heart is saying,
“I don’t care where you’ve
been or what you’ve done.
All I care about is that you
are home and I love you!”
He doesn’t wait to hear
what the son has done with
his wealth, doesn’t both-
er with what is lost. He is
happy that he has back his
lost son. Here we have a
beautiful example heav-
enly love, care, and affec-
tion that transcends human
love.
The Older Son: How
wonderful it would have
been if the older son had
said, “O how glad I am!
The fact that my broth-
er has come home shows
that he has changed. I’ve
missed him so much. I
have prayed for his return.
I’ve shared with Father
concern for his safety. I
must hurry
to embrace
him.” But
he
lacks
concern
and broth-
erly love. Fr. Thankachan
“The way Joseph
my father
treated my younger broth-
er was a slap on my face.”
The elder son has almost
lost himself in his dad’s
wealth. When his brother
returns, he feels the need
to share, fears losing the
castle he has built in his
dreams, enjoying every-
thing by himself alone.
The Prodigal Son:
The younger son feels that
he has outgrown his father,
and wants no part of his
father’s life style or home.
He asks his father to give
to him the portion of the
estate that he would inher-
it upon his father’s death.
He thinks he will be hap-
pier away from home, that
living far away from home
will bring him happiness,
for he would no longer
be under parental control,
which seems the same
way many present-day
youngsters feel. The far
country promised free-
dom but actually enslaved
the young man. While
his money lasted, he had
some fair-weather friends,
but when the money ran
short, he was reduced to
deprivation. He hired out
to a gentile to feed the gen-
tile’s swine and ended up
eating animal food. It was
under such misery that he
thought of his parents and
home. He thought, “The
hired servants at home fare
well. Father is a good man.
I’ll go back to him, con-
fess my sin, and ask him
to accept me as a hired ser-
vant.” To come back home
was no easy job. It called
for a lot of humility and
courage. He knew what
people were thinking and
saying about him. But his
conviction and contrition
lead him back home.
Some people are lost
like sheep, losing their way
by careless drifting. Some,
through life’s circumstanc-
es, are misplaced like a
lost coin. Others, like the
young son, are lost through
willful rebellion. Still oth-
ers are lost as the older
brother was - at home yet
far from the father, full of
hate, self-righteousness,
prejudice, envy and unfor-
giveness. When a sheep is
found, the shepherd rejoic-
es; when a coin is found,
the woman rejoices; when
a son is found, the father
rejoices; when a sinner re-
pents, God rejoices. Now
is the day of salvation.
Good News Only
By Doris Brosnan
It is official: Unless
something interfered on
Sunday at 8:33 AM, the
sun shone directly on the
earth’s equator, so the day-
light 12 hours, 9 minutes,
and 58 seconds and the
sunless hours were close
to equal. Thus, the Vernal/
Spring Equinox. Spring is
now official.
More weekend fun in
Heppner last week: Mur-
ray’s beer and wine event
on Friday drew another
crowd, and the luck of
the Irish held inclement
weather at bay on Saturday
for the bull riders and fans.
Next door on Saturday,
browsers could check out
the crafts show in the fair
building.
Judy Handbury wants
to encourage other senior
citizens to take CAPECO
and Bucknum’s up on their
invitation to free lunches
on Wednesdays. (Reported
in this column two weeks
ago.) Last Wednesday,
the Handburys tried the
lunch for the first time and
couldn’t eat everything on
their plates of very good
Southwest chicken salad
and side dishes. Hand-
burys chose to stay at
Bucknum’s for the social-
ization of lunch with oth-
ers, but Judy reminds us
that take-out is also avail-
able. Though the lunches
are free, donations to help
sustain the program are
welcomed. Time to call
and sign up?
As we view the
changing landscape of our
part of Eastern Oregon,
with the importance of re-
newable energy in mind,
we can also keep in mind
the good news that some
of our citizens continue
to farm their lands and/or
raise livestock. Not an easy
way to make a living but a
way of living so important
to our pantries, cupboards,
refrigerators and freezers,
tables, and stomachs. Hug
a Farmer or Rancher today.
I had a change of pace
last week-plus. On Sunday,
the 13th, I “motored” to
Salem to house- and dog-
sit for our daughter while
that family’s members
were able to enjoy some
long-awaited
vacations
with extended families. Of
course, I included visits
with Danny, whose illness
progresses, and with some
Salem friends. For this
trip, I enjoyed my travel-
ing companion, Pat Prock
of Pendleton, who met her
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MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
sister Ferne in Salem for a
continued trip to Roseburg
for the week. Pat joined me
again yesterday for the trip
back home.
David and April Sykes
visited their daughter, Ca-
mille Sykes, her partner
Eddie Gonzales and their
three-year old Oscar re-
cently. While there they
enjoyed dinner at Olive
Garden along with Eddie’s
parents, Frank and Naomi
Gonzales of Wilsonville,
and a family friend.
Chris and Rachel
Sykes and their kids, Way-
lon, three, and Sophie,
one, spent the St. Patrick’s
weekend with the Sykes
family in Heppner. They
enjoyed the parade and fes-
tivities and the grandpar-
ents got to babysit while
Chris and Rachel visited
with friends. D
Dan and Sandi Carlson
were honored to be judges
at the Oregon FFA Con-
vention at the Deschutes
Expo in Redmond, March
17-20. Sandi reports that
the energy generated by
the students, so full of life,
was great.
HHS FFA members
also attended that conven-
tion, and kudos go out to
Blake Carter and Hailey
Cunningham for earning
the state FFA degree, the
highest award in the state,
and to their chapter and
fellow members for other
recognitions bestowed.
Congratulations,
again, to four HHS football
players: Brock Hisler se-
lected to be a player on this
year’s East Shrine team;
and Kason Cimmiyotti,
Jace Coe, and Conor Bros-
nan chosen as alternates.
This is spring-vaca-
tion week for Oregon col-
leges and high schools, so
several college students
have returned to Heppner,
as some local families of
high school students have
hit the roads for the week’s
adventures elsewhere. And
good weather is forecasted
for most of the remaining
week.
Readers of the GT
will appreciate your tid-
bits of good news, so we
hope you will take a few
minutes to send yours to
dbrosnan123@gmail.com
or call 541-223-1490. We
can all appreciate some
precious, positive mo-
ments in our days!
Here’s hoping that
some good news comes to
everyone reading this.
Heppner schools
receive science
books
The Outstanding Sci-
ence Trade Books (OSTB)
2022 project culminated
this month with the nom-
inated books going to the
Heppner school libraries
and classrooms. The proj-
ect was spearheaded by
Sarah Carlson, Ione, who
is one of a nine-member
national panel for select-
ing the books for the an-
nual list. The Children’s
Book Council and the Na-
tional Science Teaching
Association (NSTA) have
coordinated on the review
and selection of the OSTB
list for the past 50 years.
Carlson, a local retired sci-
ence teacher and member
of NSTA, was selected to
serve on the panel for three
years. Each year 250-300
newly published K-12
science trade books are
nominated for the award.
The publishers send their
nominations to each panel
member who has 3 months
to receive, read, and re-
view the books. Then,
the panel meets to decide
which books should be on
the OSTB list
This year, Carlson
worked with the Heppner
community in reading and
reviewing the books. The
Flood Town Bookstore
served as the repository
for the books during the
process. Each book was
reviewed for its science
content, illustrations, ac-
tivities, format and design.
Heppner readers/reviewers
were Andrea Nelson, Cara
Osmin, Doris Brosnan,
Molly Rill, Mary Hague-
wood, Jan Huddleston,
Karen Thompson, Sharon
Harrison, Sally Walker,
Ann Spicer, and Kris-
ti Edmundson Smalley.
Carlson says “Without the
volunteer help of commu-
nity readers, thoughtful
deserving reviews would
be difficult given the time
constraints of the selection
process.”
With the release of the
2022 OSTB list, the Hep-
pner teachers were invited
to select books for their
classrooms. “The best part
of the project is giving the
books away, and knowing
that young readers and
classroom teachers have
current outstanding sci-
ence trade books to use and
enjoy.” said Carlson. An-
drea Nelson, the STEAM
teacher at HES and owner
of Flood Town Books, said
"It was such a fun experi-
ence and wonderful way
of sharing science books
with teachers. The books I
received for my classroom
have been a great addition
and the children have al-
ready spent time enjoying
them. My personal favor-
ite was "The Beak Book"
which explored different
kinds of bird beaks around
the world."
The 2022 OSTB list can be
found at https://www.cb-
cbooks.org/readers/read-
ing-lists/outstanding-sci-
ence-lists/
Farmers market to hold
vendors’ meeting
Charlie Nelson samples some of his own merchandise during
the 2021 farmers market. –Photo By Andrea Nelson
Willow Creek Farmers
Market will hold a ven-
dors’ meeting Tuesday,
April 26, at 6 p.m. The
meeting will be held at
Flood Town Books, 413 N.
Main St., Heppner.
All vendors and inter-
ested vendors are encour-
aged to attend and give
their input on the 2022
market season. Topics
will include market dates
and times, as well as oth-
er organizational business.
Anyone who cannot attend
the meeting can give input
by emailing willowcreek-
fm@gmail.com or calling
Andrea Di Salvo at 757-
285-5792.