TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 4, 2023
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Mary’s Catholic Church Wasco
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: In Morrow County $35/year.
Outside Morrow County $40/year. In County Senior Rate (65 years or older) $30/
year. 9 month Student student subscriptions $35/year.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
Cindi Doherty.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.50 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $15 up to 100
words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.00 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be
placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Obituaries
Sharon Kay Miller
Sharon Kay Miller,
( S h u -
S h u ) ,
passed
away on
Septem-
ber 15,
2023, at
Good Sa-
maritan Hospital in Port-
land, Oregon surrounded
by many family members
and close friends. She
was 50 years old. She was
born on August 28, 1973,
in Hermiston, Oregon to
Francis Dewayne Robinson
and Marion Lee (Poorman)
Robinson. Sharon loved
Heppner and was very
active in the community.
She was a member of the
following: Parent Teacher
Club, Heppner Community
Foundation, and the Willow
Creek Baptist Church. She
was also a huge supporter
and cheerleader for the
Heppner schools and sports
programs.
Sharon contributed
her time and energy to the
Heppner Booster Club,
Alcoholics Anonymous,
Narcotics Anonymous, as
well as many others. Sha-
ron was preceded in death
by her father, Francis De-
Spiritually Speaking
wayne Robinson, a brother,
Thomas Allen Hamman,
and her grandparents Frank
and Ruth Robinson. Survi-
vors include her husband
Ryan Lee Miller, children:
Tyler Lee Robinson (Car-
oline Francis Robinson),
and Kooper Fordyce Mill-
er, grandchildren: Olivia
RaeAnne Robinson, Ryan
Kay Robinson and niece/
stepdaughter/exchange stu-
dent Savannah Poorman,
Siblings: Thomas Allen
Hammon, Robert Mark
Hammon (Andrea), Scott
Timothy Poorman, Robert
Jason Poorman (Patty),
Chadd Norman Robinson,
Zachariah Edwar Brown
(Ariel) and many nieces
and nephews. Sharon’s
Celebration of Life will be
held at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds, on October
14, 2023, at 5 p.m. with a
dinner to follow. Memorial
contributions may be made
to the club of your choice, to
the Heppner Booster Club,
PO Box 917, Heppner, OR
97836. Sweeney Mortuary
is in care of arrangements.
You may sign the online
condolence book at www.
sweeneymortuary.com.
~ G-T Trophy Corner ~
The Heppner Gazette Times would like to see pictures of your trophy animals
from this hunting season. Please send a photo along with your name, age, town
you live in, location of the hunt and a description of the animal to editor@
rapidserve.net, upload to Heppner.net or text to 541-215-2274.
What you like to choose in life
This Sunday we have the parable of the wicked
tenants. I am sure you are following the news about the
political arena of our nation. It is hard to read today’s
parable and not think about our nation’s financial mess.
The parable of the tenants in the vineyard describes very
well-greed, reckless ambition, and astounding misman-
agement. The parable of the tenants in the vineyard allows
us to examine our own lives and how we are carrying out
the trust placed on us by Christ Himself at the Sacrament
of Baptism. In this parable, Jesus addresses the issue of
trust. He tells about a landowner who plants a vineyard
and equips it with everything necessary to produce excel-
lent wine. Then - and this is the crucial point - he leases
it to tenants. As we shall see, the tenants make a hash of
it - and they are brought to judgment.
In the reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians,
Paul tells us, “Have no anxiety at all.” (Phil 4:6) We
perhaps smile at those words. When someone says not
to worry, it can sound very funny – a person so blindly
optimistic that they imagine bad things can never happen.
Well, that is hardly the case with Paul. He faced trials few
of us could even imagine. A partial list includes an escape
involving being lowered over the side of a building in a
basket, public whippings, shipwrecks, snake bites, im-
prisonment, and bodily ailments – particularly, afflictions
of the eye. Yet in this letter, written toward the end of his
life, Paul, who faced all these troubles in his life, says,
“Have no anxiety at all.” He had the real experience of
walking with Christ.
In his reprimand to cast aside worry, Paul was echo-
ing Jesus. At the Last Supper, knowing fully well that
the next morning He would face public humiliation and
unspeakable tortures, Jesus told His disciples, “Do not
let your hearts be troubled” (Jn. 14:1). We can ask how
it is possible to obey such a command. And let’s be clear.
Paul and Jesus are not making a pious suggestion; they
are giving a command. Have no anxiety at all. Do not let
your hearts be troubled. All of us would like to be free
from worries, but it seems impossible. We have financial
problems, family difficulties, work deadlines, and health
concerns – not to mention worries about what is happen-
ing in our world: natural disasters, societal breakdown,
wars, economic turmoil, and so on. When Paul says to
have no anxieties, when Jesus tells us not to be troubled,
it does not mean to ignore reality. What it means is that
we take a different approach to our troubles.
The Gospel reading of this Sunday is from Matthew
(21:33-43). Through this parable of the wicked tenants,
Jesus addresses the issue of trust. He tells about a land-
owner who plants a vineyard and equips it with everything
necessary to produce an excellent crop of grapes. But
before the harvest’s crucial point, a contract takes place.
He leases it to tenants and expects from them a lease
agreement including his share. As we see, the tenants
make a hash of it. Their greed and unnecessary longing for
others’ goods ruin their whole lives. Who are the tenants
of this parable whom the Lord tries to present before us?
They are not just people who lived a long time ago. Nor
are they only those given enormous responsibilities - like
bank managers and the guys on Wall Street. No, brothers
and sisters, the tenants are you and me. Those who are
the baptized Christians.
From the parable of the wicked tenants, we can
sum up these ideas for our lives. God always loves us
unconditionally and even accepts our rejection of Him.
God cannot change us unless we choose to let God change
us. Sometimes when our lives are a mess, all we can do is
ask God, “Help me.” That is enough. But when we blame
the mess on God and reject God, then God cannot help us
unless we have some openness to Him. So, the message
of the readings today is very clear: choose God and pray
to God with complete confidence. If we reject God, He
cannot go against our own free will which He gave us.
God’s choice is always love! Our choice is up to us.
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Morrow County Veterans Services
Dayof the Deployed October 26
Dan Chase of Heppner Oregon came down from the
Mountains September 6th to get married and went
back up to shoot this nice bull
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