Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 22, 2022 -- THREE
Farmers Market to Inland Development
The sacred heart
begin Thursday
awards 2022
Jesus invites us to love
scholarships
Spiritually Speaking
like Him
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
The Feast of the Sacred Heart this
Sunday is the feast of God’s love for
mankind as manifested through Jesus
Christ. This celebration is an invitation to
immerse ourselves in that immense love Fr. Thankachan
that brought about our salvation - lifted Joseph
high on the cross, Christ gave His life
for us, so much did He love us. The Church calls us to
discover God’s love as reflected in the Heart of Jesus. As
we prepare to celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice, let us be
sorry for all our sins of ingratitude and coldness towards
Him and His sacrament of love.
The great theologian and writer of the ancient Church,
St. Augustine, says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest
in His divine Love.” Pope Francis says, “Sacred Heart
of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy; but it is
not an imaginary symbol, it is a real symbol, which rep-
resents the center, the source from which salvation for all
humanity gushed forth.” Saint John Paul II says, “In the
Sacred Heart, every treasure of wisdom and knowledge
is hidden. In that Divine Heart beats God’s infinite love
for everyone, for each one of us individually.”
The heart is a universally acknowledged symbol of
one’s love, and a common sight are two hearts pierced
with an arrow, expressing the deep bond of love between
two people. Jesus said, “Behold the Heart that has so loved
all.” The love of Jesus is so perfect that it gives us the
example of total and complete love: “No one has greater
love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn
15:13). The Sacred Heart is not only love but also a rich
source of Holiness, Mercy, Joy, Healing and other virtues.
The classical pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as
St. Margaret Mary saw Him in her visions shows Christ
with His open heart, with the cross planted on it, its crown
of thorns - that represents each one of us and our personal
lives - surrounding it, and flames issuing from the Heart.
The burning flames of light from His Heart, the eternal
fires of love, show us the way out of our darkness. He
continues to ignore our shortcomings and failures; He
ignores them daily in His pierced heart. The feeding of
the five thousand people in the desert, which we read
and reflect on the Feast of Corpus Christi, very nicely
describes the compassionate and kind heart of Jesus and
is well portrayed in the Gospel of John, 6:1-14. They were
like sheep without a shepherd, and our Lord’s Heart is
also filled with pity for each of us.
Jesus, who gave Himself up to death on the cross,
pours out His immense love towards each of us. His
Sacred Heart daily invites each one of us to return to His
infinite Love. He is ready to accept and forgive all our
shortcomings and make us children of Christ. He gives us
a living Heart full of grace and riches. The sacred Heart,
which manifests in the tangible way the immense love of
God, invites an equally reciprocal love.
Holiness is the perfection and fullness of love. I am
reminded of a quote from the Gospel of Luke: “I have
come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance”
(Lk. 5:32). He looks upon their problems and accepts
them with a forgiving, tender, merciful heart. The episode
of Mary Magdalene in the house of Simon the Pharisee
is clear evidence of Jesus’s compassionate and forgiving
love. Christ was the incarnation of God’s love, which
He manifests to us, not by words but by plain deeds. We
have many examples from the life of Christ to imitate
for our daily lives. When His apostle selected as His
specially-chosen betrayed Him, He had the capacity to
forgive him. Similarly, Peter, whom He selected as the
head of the apostles, rejected Him three times, Christ was
benevolent enough to accept him again. The Feast of the
Sacred Heart is a reminder for every one of us that the
world should recognize you and me through our love and
empathy towards the persons around us, “If you have love
for one another, then everyone will know that you are my
disciples” (Jn. 13:35). We cannot effectively enter into the
redeeming stream of His love without being conformed
to His sacrificial love, without being ready to suffer for
love’s sake.
Inland Development
Corporation has announced
the 2022 winners of their
annual scholarships. The
27 award winners represent
students from Heppner,
Ione, Irrigon, Boardman,
Hermiston and Monument
High Schools. Of those
winners, 23 award winners
will be attending two- and
four-year colleges through-
out the western US. The
Lita Townsend and granddaughter Lita Nelson sell produce
additional four award win-
at the 2020 Willow Creek Farmers Market. The market will
begin its 2022 season this Thursday, June 23. -Contributed photo
Willow Creek Farmers
Market will begin its 2022
season this Thursday, June
23, at Heppner City Park.
The market time will again
be 4-7 p.m. Thursday eve-
nings into September.
Vendor cost will be
$30 for the season, $10 for
youth under 18, or $10 per
week for drop-in vendors.
Spaces are first-come, first
served.
For more information
or to register as a vendor,
email willowcreekfm@
gmail.com, call Andrea Di
Salvo at 757-285-5792 or
Andrea Nelson at 541-720-
4399, or find us on Face-
book at www.facebook.
com/WCFMHeppner.
ners will be entering trade
apprenticeships and attend-
ing tech schools.
This is the 12 th year
Inland Development has
awarded scholarships to
253 area students, totaling
more than $650,000 award-
ed. Inland Development is
a local nonprofit formed to
provide broadband services
to schools throughout east-
ern Oregon.
Cruz-In scheduled
for July 4
Museum to host
storyteller
The Morrow County
Heritage Museum will host
storyteller Karen Haas at
the Heppner City Park on
Saturday, June 25 at 7 p.m.
The presentation will be
“Tales and Tunes from the
Trail.” Haas incorporates
music and sing-alongs into
her presentations along
with folk instruments such
as an autoharp, mountain
dulcimer, wire-strung lap
harp and penny whistle.
Eventgoers are asked to
bring lawn chairs.
Karen is a former teach-
er and museum curator of
education and is one of the
founders and organizers of
the Tacoma Living History
Cemetery Tour. She feels
especially rewarded telling
the tales of those whose
Justice
Court
Report
Morrow County Justice
of the Peace, Glen Diehl,
has released the following
Justice Court report:
-Tamara L. Griffis, 64,
Heppner, was convicted of
violation of basic rule, fine
$265.
-Justin R. Yocum, 30,
Heppner, was convicted of
violation of basic rule, fine
$165.
Classic cars that were on display at the 2021 Cruz-In held
each July 4 in Ione. -File Photo.
Karen Haas
voices are usually silent in
history – women.
The performance is
sponsored by the Family &
Agricultural Resource Mu-
seum (FARM) Foundation
along with funding from
the Morrow County Unified
Recreation District.
The annual Cruz-In
held at the Ione City Park
will take place again this
year on Monday, July 4.
Registration will be from
9 to 11 a.m. with the cost
of $20 per vehicle. Judging
will take place at 11 a.m.
and the trophy ceremony
at 3 p.m.
Proceeds from the
Cruz-In will be donated to
community organizations
and projects. In previous
years $500 of the proceeds
were donated for park
maintenance and a portable
sound system.
For additional informa-
tion, contact Loyal Burns
at 541-422-7512, email
burnsione@hotmail.com
or Sharon Harrison at 541-
989-8496.