Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 14, 2022 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
NO SERVANT CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS
Last week we prayed for the victims who lost their lives
at the World Trade Center. Several thousand people were
suddenly thrown down at the feet of God to give an ac-
count of their stewardship, to present all that they had
done in their lives, from the age of reason until that final
hour, which they could not have fore-seen. The scripture
readings this week lead us to the subject of faithful stew-
ardship. How do we perform our stewardship received
through Baptism, how do we take it forward in our day-
to-day lives?
The prophet Amos (8:4-7) condemns the crooked busi-
ness practices of the 8th century, BC. He reminds the
Israelites to be faithful to their covenant with Yahweh
by practicing justice and mercy as God’s faithful stew-
ards. He warns us against having as our life goal mak-
ing money by any means. The prophet wants to warn
businessmen who want to make profits through dishon-
est business practices like high prices, false bal-ances,
and poor-quality merchandise. Hence, Amos prophesied
the downfall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel for its
lack of covenant morality. In the covenant relationship
between God and His people, loving compassion and
concern for the unfortunate, honesty, and integrity were
supposed to be distinguishing qualities. Amos declared
that God would not abide abuse of the weak.
In St. Paul’s letter to Timothy (2:1-8), he instructs the
first century Judeo-Christians to become true stewards
of the Gospel of Jesus by preaching the “good news”
to the pagans and including them in intercessory pray-
ers. Paul struggled to get Jewish Christians and Gentile
Christians to respect each other and not to compart-men-
talize God’s salvation. Hence, the author of I Timothy
reminds Timothy (a community leader equivalent to a
bishop) and his congregation that God’s concern extends
to all people, not just themselves. Paul insists again that
he was called to take the Gospel to all peoples. He re-
quested prayers for civil rulers and those in high posi-
tions so that all people might live a quiet and peaceful
life and come to salvation through Jesus.
St. Luke (16:1-13) challenges us to use our blessings -
time, talents, health, and wealth - wisely and shrewdly
so that they will count toward our good in eternity. We
are on the right road only if we use our possessions and
wealth to attain our heavenly goal. The parable of the
crooked steward has shocked good church people for
centuries. St. Augustine said, “I can’t believe that this
story came from the lips of our Lord.” Jesus tells a story
about the steward (manager) of the estate of a rich ab-
sentee landlord. The principal morals of the par-able:
1) We need to be faithful in little things: Often we get so
caught up in our work that we ignore the little things of
life. But let us not ignore these little matters -- things like
dropping someone an encouraging note or ex-tending
people a simple “Thank you.” As Saint Mother Theresa
used to recommend, “Do little things with great love.”
2) We need to act shrewdly, to step into the future with
confidence -- not in ourselves or our abilities, but in the
power and grace of God. The manager in Jesus’s sto-
ry used all his resources to secure his future. We must
be no less resourceful. At our disposal we have hope
in God’s justice, faith in God’s assistance, and trust in
God’s grace. We have church services and sacraments as
sources of divine grace, the Holy Bible for daily medita-
tion and practice, and the Spirit-guided Church to direct
us. We need to use these best possible resources in such
a way that it will be said of us, “And the master com-
mended them because they acted so shrewdly.”
3) We need to be prepared to give an account of our lives.
We are all stewards of what God has entrusted to us. We
prepare ourselves for all kinds of things, but do we care
enough for our souls? “… we must all ap-pear before
the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may re-
ceive recompense, according to what he did in the body,
whether good or evil” (II Corinthians 5:10). Thus, the
only thing that will count in our favor is the testimony
of those who will say, “Lord, when I was really in need,
he gave to me at cost to him-self.” The time for us to
appear before God at the end of our life is the moment
of divine justice
Meeting set to explore
housing needs in south
Morrow County
The community is
invited to join ECONorth-
west and the cities of Hep-
pner, Lexington and Ione
at a meeting September 19
from 4-6 p.m. at the Gilliam
& Bisbee Building, 106 E.
May St. in Heppner to “ex-
plore the barriers to housing
development in the Willow
Creek Valley and interven-
tions the cities can take to
overcome them.”
According to a
flyer, “The cities of Ione,
Lexington and Heppner
are struggling to produce
enough housing that meets
the needs of current and
future residents. Among
other barriers, the cities
lack infrastructure capacity
and developer capacity to
accommodate new housing
development.
“Morrow County
and the cities of Ione, Lex-
ington and Heppner are
working with ECONorth-
west to develop a Housing
Implementation Plan that
will provide a set of in-
terventions that the cities
can pursue to address these
housing needs.”
For more informa-
tion contact city hall or
Tamra Mabbott, Morrow
County Planning Director,
at (541)922-4624.
lone High School Graduate Chosen
to Intern in Washington, D.C.
Morgan Orem, a 2018
graduate of lone High
School and an Agricul-
tural Communications &
Journalism major at Tex-
as A&M University, re-
cently began a fall 2022
internship in Washington,
D.C. Morgan will spend
the fall as an integral part
of the National Council of
Farmers Cooperatives.
Morgan is one of sev-
en students selected for
an internship through the
Agricultural and Natural
Resources Policy (ANRP)
Internship Program at
Texas A&M University.
Morgan’s duties • include
monitoring
legislation,
attending committee hear-
ings and briefings, and
preparing reports for se-
nior staff members. Mor-
gan is the daughter of Mr.
& Mrs. Eric and Brandi
Orem.
“The ANRP Intern-
ship Program is one of
few in the nation specifi-
cally geared toward
transforming today’s ag-
ricultural students into
tomorrows leaders,” said
Stephanie Webb,
director of the ANRP
Internship
Program.
“Through this opportu-
nity, students use what
they have learned in the
classroom in a profession-
al work setting. Not only
will this D.C. experience
be attractive to future em-
ployers, but our students
are also providing valuable
assistance to the, offices in
which they intern.” •
The program is in its 32”
year of sending students to
Washington, D.C. to work
in congressional offices
and other agricultural or-
ganizations. Since its in-
ception, more than 1,100
Aggies have participated
in the program. Each stu-
dent receives course cred-
it for their internship as
well as a scholarship in the
form of housing, which is
partly supported by pri-
vate donors and commod-
ity organizations. To learn
more about Morgan and
her experiences, visit the
program’s website at atup.
tannt.edu.
Justice Court Report
Cameron R. Sweeney, 43 YR0, Heppner, OR: VBR,
$165.00
Matthew J. Sheehan, 42 YRO, Atherton, CA: VBR,
$165.00
Skyler J. Hawks, 25 YRO Heppner, OR: DWS,
$440.00
Skyler J. Hawks, 25 YRO Heppner, OR: Driving Un-
insured, $265.00
Valentin Macias Hernandez, 39 YRO Heppner, OR:
VBR, $65.00
Chrylee A. Price, 54 YRO Boring, OR: VBR, $165.00
Over the Tea Cup
Ten women turned
out for a warm day of golf at
the Willow Creek Country
Club Ladies Play Day Sep-
tember 6. Virginia Grant
was low gross of the field,
Kris Lindner took low net
of the field and Pat Ed-
mundson, least putts of the
field. Corol Mitchell, Pat
Dougherty and Betty Car-
ter were low gross. Sharon
Harrison was low net. Pat
Edmundson had a chip-in
on #18. In special events,
Pat Dougherty and Kris
Lindner had add putts on
#12. The worst score on #18
went to Kris Lindner.
The Eddie Skow
event will be held on Sep-
tember 13.
Over The Tee Cup
Results for the Ladies Play Day on September 13 are
as follows:
Low Gross of the field-Virginia Grant; Low Net of the
Field-Betty Carter.
Low gross: Flight B-Pat Edmundson, Flight C-Kris
Lindner.
Birdies: Virginia Grant on #10.
The Eddi Skow championship winter was Virginia
Grant.
Coming events include a play date, a meeting and a
luncheon.
Obituaries
Kenneth Monroe How-
ard, age 87, of Heppner,
Oregon passed away peace-
fully on September 8, 2022
from heart failure. Kenneth
was born on July 21, 1935
in Tonkawa, Oklahoma
to Walter Augustus and
Myrtle Francis (aka Verda
Pearl) (Griffith) Howard.
Kenneth was the 4th of 8
children and was the last
survivor of all of his sib-
lings.
When Kenneth was in his
mid-teens he moved to Ore-
gon to live with his aunt and
uncle. He worked for many
local farmers and ranch-
ers before enlisting in the
Marines on September 30,
1955. Kenneth spent four
years in the Marines and
then returned to Heppner.
He married his first wife
Carolyn in 1960, and they
had four children - Kenneth
Lee, Craig Stephen, Tammy
Marie, and Matthew Shane.
They later divorced and he
married Maureen in 1979,
who brought four children
with her - William Jay,
Lynn Dee, Dawna Ann,
and Scott Ray. Kenneth
and Maureen had their final
child together, Stormy Jo,
in 1979. This made a fam-
ily of nine children. It was
definitely a motley crew
at times, but it was never
about DNA for Kenneth,
it was simply being a great
dad, and he was the best to
all nine of them.
Kenneth was known to
many by a host of names:
Kenneth, Kenny, Ken, but
his most important names
were dad and grandpa. With
nine kids there were nu-
merous grandkids that fol-
lowed, and great grandkids;
he loved them all, and even
some that called him grand-
pa who had no relationship
with the family; he simply
loved kids.
Kenneth spent most
of his working life at the
Kinzua Mill. When he
wasn’t working, you could
find him in his woodshop
building all sorts of wooden
furniture. It was a hobby
he loved. Along with his
woodwork he loved at-
tending all of his kids and
grandkids functions. He
was involved with taking
his kids to wranglers and
rodeos, and never missed
a game for any of the kids
whether it be football, vol-
Kenneth Monroe
Howard
leyball, basketball, base-
ball, softball, rodeo, etc. He
was always there to cheer
them on. When he could
find spare time, he had a
passion for fishing and
hunting with his sons and
grandsons, and he may have
enjoyed a beer or two now
and then! His family meant
everything to him, and there
was a lot of family to love.
He leaves a huge hole in the
hearts of his family.
Kenneth is survived by
his wife, Maureen How-
ard; son Kenny Lee (Tami)
Howard; son Jay Devin; son
Craig Howard; daughter
Lynn Dee (Bink) Ramos;
daughter Tammy (Dan)
Bortvit; daughter Dawna
(Cliff) Dougherty; son Matt
(Derina) Howard; son Scott
(Amber) Davis; daughter
Stormy (Brad) Duncan.
Kenneth was preceded in
death by his parents and all
of siblings.
A special thank you to
all of the staff at Guardian
Angel Homes assisted liv-
ing facility in Hermiston.
They cared for dad as if he
was truly their dad/grandpa,
we couldn’t have asked for
a better place, or care team,
to help him in his last year
of life.
A celebration of life is
scheduled for September
24, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at
the Gilliam and Bisbee
Building, 106 E May St.,
Heppner, Oregon.
Contributions may be
made in Kenneth’s memory
to Guardian Angel Homes,
540 NW 12 th St., Hermis-
ton, OR 97838.
Arrangements are with
Sweeney Mortuary of Hep-
pner.
HEPPNER ELKS 358
"WHERE FRIENDS MEET"
541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST
HUNTER'S
NIGHT
Thursday,
September 29th
Dinner - 6:30 pm
Steak
Potatoes
Salad & Dessert
Lodge - 8:00 pm
Lots of Raffle Items
Members and Guests
ATTENTION HUNTERS!!
The Heppner
Gazette-Times
wants pictures of your
trophy animals!
Stop by 188 W Willow Street
in Heppner,
email - editor@rapidserve.net
upload at heppner.net
or text photos to 541-980-6674.
25th Annual
Elks Lodge Charity
Golf Tournament
September 18th, 2021
at Willow Creek Golf Course
in Heppner, OR
Registration 7:45 a.m.
Tee-off 9:00 a.m.
Cost- $40.00 per golfer
Proceeds Benefit Casey Eye Clinic
Bring your own cart- $7.00 trail fee
Rent a cart- $20:00
To register call
Kelly 541-980-2948
Marvin 541-256-0109
HEPPNER ELKS 358
"WHERE FRIENDS MEET"
541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST