Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 13, 2022 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
Chip seal to begin near Lexington
You worry and fret
about so many things
(Lk. 10: 42)
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
This Sunday’s Gospel from St. Luke
(10: 38-42), through the lifestyle of two
sisters, Martha and Mary, clearly depicts
our theme vividly. They welcome Jesus Fr. Thankachan
into their home in Bethany, though each Joseph
does so in a different way.
When we come to celebrate the Eucharist, we are
sometimes told that we should leave behind our cares
and concerns. But what we should do, is bring them with
us and lay them at the feet of Christ, as Mary, the sister
of Martha, does. It’s the easiest thing in the world to get
one’s priorities wrong. It happened to Martha. It’s amazing
how trivia jump to the forefront and clamor for immediate
attention, whereas important things are perhaps forgotten
and remain undone, or if they are done, are rushed and,
consequently, badly done.
I was reminded of an anecdote that depicts priorities:
Two women went to Lourdes on a pilgrimage. They want-
ed to bring their pains and sufferings, cares and anxieties
to God and to lay their lives before Him. The first woman
immediately forgot the main purpose of her visit. She
started to rush around to see the sights. Without noticing
it, she simply got swept along by the current, pausing
only to take selfie pictures. In her rounds, she saw lots of
glittering souvenirs and postcards, etc. She took several
hours to send all her kith and kin a personal card each
and posted them as soon as possible. After finishing all
those chores, she came to the grotto to pray, but due to
weariness, she could not pay attention to her prayers.
What about her friend? As soon as she arrived at
Lourdes, she took a good nap in the hotel. Refreshing
herself, she headed for the shrine. On the way, she passed
by souvenir and card shops. She remembered the purpose
for which she had come. She made her way to the grotto
where she recollected herself and in a spirit of love and
trust, sought to assemble the fragments of her scattered
brokenness, worries and anxieties of life and lay them
before her God. She could enjoy some sort of relaxation
and refreshment at the grotto. There was something in the
atmosphere that made it easy to pray. She looked forward
to deepening this experience during the days ahead.
Martha and Mary welcome the Lord to their home.
The first thing Martha thinks about is to prepare a good
meal for Him – a very kind and hospitable thought. Being
a very practical woman, she gets down to work imme-
diately, without even waiting for her sister. There was a
lot of work involved because she was concerned about
preparing sumptuous and delicious dishes to please and
easily get the sympathy and attention of the special guest
of the day. We can easily sympathize with her. We can
even admire her. But she has her priorities wrong. There
is something more important that she is neglecting. Like
many of us, she, too, has no time to listen to Jesus.
Mary, on the other hand, has her priorities right. First
things first. Here was a priceless opportunity to hear the
words of the man who claimed to have the very words
of eternal life itself. Afterwards, she would be able to see
other things. Through Martha and Mary, Christ is inviting
every one of us to look into our own lives carefully.
Poor Martha. It’s not simply that she is busy, but that
she is too busy, so much so that she has time for nothing
else. She is anxious, distracted, troubled, and agitated. She
had become a slave to her duties. The work has swallowed
her whole. We rush about, busy with many things, yet
constantly short of time. We neglect people. We don’t
have time to listen to them. Just examine and see how
many of us have time to spend in adoration? How many
of us are able to spend at least a few hours a day silently
in some quiet place at least for half an hour reflecting on
the type of life that we are living?
Chapter ten of Luke ends with a beautiful thought:
discipleship is not mere preoccupation of useless things,
instead it should be like that of Mary, being attentive to
the life-giving words of Christ. Jesus also warns of the
life style of Martha. If you think you are exploited, your
service becomes a burden that ends discipleship.
ODOT will be chip sealing 20 miles of the Lexington-Echo Highway between Lexington and
milepost 20, near the Umatilla County line.
The chip seal project
for Highway 207 between
Lexington and Butter Creek
near the Umatilla County
line is scheduled to be-
gin around July 25 and
is expected to take about
a week to complete. The
20-minute delays, reduced
speeds, loose rock on the
roadway, flaggers and pilot
cars directing single lane
traffic through the area.
There will be additional
minor delays through the
work zone during nighttime
Extension and Wheat Growers League
host crop tour
Local wheat growers, beginning and experienced, revel in the
opportunity to learn about the results of research completed
by OSU Extension in Morrow County.
Local farmers and OSU Extension faculty tour south Morrow
County evaluating grain varieties and input applications op-
tions during the OSU Extension and Oregon Wheat Growers
League annual crop tour on June 16.
The annual OSU Extension and Oregon Wheat Growers
League Morrow County Crop Tour, ended with dinner in the
Ione City Park. The event saw 75 growers and their families
attend.
Morrow County Ex-
tension and Oregon Wheat
Growers League hosted
a crop tour and dinner on
June 16. The tour started at
Proudfoot Ranches, worked
its way through several
grower cooperators ending
at Keith Morter’s and cul-
minating with dinner at the
Ione City Park.
Larry Lutcher, crop
specialist for OSU Exten-
sion in Morrow County,
A burn ban is in effect for the said that he was very appre-
Town of Lexington beginning ciative of the support and
cooperation local producers
Monday, July 18, 2022
Lexington Burn Ban
actual dates are dependent
on weather conditions and
other factors that may im-
pact the project start and
end times.
ODOT officials say
drivers through the work
zone should expect up to
and early morning hours for
road sweeping.
Bicycle riders should
expect to travel on rock chip
covered highway sections
behind the pilot car with no
usable shoulders, so should
consider using alternate
routes or delay traveling
through the area until the
project has been completed.
ODOT indicates pedestri-
ans will be provided access
through or around the work
zone.
Farmers, ranchers and
property owners are asked
to keep farm equipment off
the highway during and up
to two days after the chip
sealing has been completed.
Officials also ask that irriga-
tion and lawn sprinklers be
adjusted to keep water off
of the roadway.
Those who have plans
to move livestock on the
highway section being
chip sealed should contact
ODOT District 12 District
Manager Paul Howland
at 541-278-6044 or via
email at paul.l.howland@
odot.oregon.gov. Addition-
al information is available
by contacting Howland as
well.
have with Extension. “I
would really like to thank
Proudfoot Ranches, Keith
Morter Farms, Dick Snyder,
Snow-McElligott Farm and
Ashley and Adam McCabe
for working with me this
year. The opportunity to
work together really helps
propel our county agricul-
ture forward.”
“Larry is outstanding
in his field,” said Mor-
row County Wheat Grower
president, Erin Heideman.
“His ability to coordinate
growers and complete re-
search that is relevant to
our needs and growth as
farmers is such an asset to
our county.”
The Bank of Eastern
Oregon did the barbecuing
for the group, John Wam-
beke and Friends provided
musical entertainment, Ione
Rural Fire Department pro-
vided chairs and tables and
the City of Ione allowed
the use of the park. “It was
so nice to be able to get
together as growers, some-
thing we haven’t done in
two years,” said Heideman.
If you would like to
become a member of the
Oregon Wheat Growers
League, information can be
found at www.owgl.org or
by calling the League office
at 541-278-2551.
No open burning
No burn barrels
For more information, contact:
Town of Lexington (541)989-8515
or Fire Chief Charlie Sumner (541)403-2917
IONE RURAL FIRE
PROTECTION DISTRICT
BURN
BAN
Scan QR Code
to download the app
Melanoma stands out.
Check your skin.
You could spot cancer.
No Open Burning - No Burn Barrels
EFFECTIVE JULY 9, 2022
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
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
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