FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

The recent hostage crisis still hogs the headlines, takes up a lot of the media time, and seems to be everyone’s most favorite topic of conversation, either for or against, with many unsolicited comments on what should or should not have been done, who is or is not guilty, citing logical or illogical reasons depending on whose side one is on. Too many people are getting actively involved too late in the day. Questions, rationalizations, finger-pointing – we see these so often when something doesn’t go the way it should.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

When you look at a glass of water, do you see it as half-full or half-empty? Do you tend to accentuate the positive or emphasize the negative in things? Do you see the best in people, or do you count all their mistakes? Do you wear rose-colored glasses or the perpetually smoky-dark sun glasses?

Optimism has been explained as the habit of taking a cheerful and hopeful view of things, of believing that good must ultimately prevail. Pessimism is the habit of focusing on the bad and ignoring the good; the pessimist expects the worst to happen. Let me give you some examples.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

These last several weeks it seems that the word and concept of stress keeps capturing my attention. First it was a sign in the bookstore that proclaimed: “Out of my mind. Be back in one hour.” Continuing to browse in the bookstore I came across another sticker sign that said: “Quit taking this life on earth so seriously. Nobody gets out of it alive anyway.” Then several days later I got a text message saying a friend had just been hospitalized with a heart attack. This week one of my granddaughters is undergoing derma treatments for facial breakouts that, according to her doctor, are due to stress.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Last week I talked about how we should be catalysts in our own sphere of influence. Since then I have received numerous comments, one in particular struck me. “Being a catalyst then is being able to make a difference!” Yes, being a catalyst is just that, being someone who makes a difference in his/her own life and in the lives of those around him/her.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Listening to the President’s SONA I was struck by Pres. Noynoy’s repeated insistence that each one of us has a role to play, that each one of us must do his/her part in bettering our nation’s integrity and performance. In other words, he challenged each one of us to be a catalyst, a person who takes the initiative to make things happen, who precipitates change.

In chemistry, a catalyst increases the rate of reaction. In real life a catalyst senses things others might not see or be aware of. A catalyst recognizes ways to turn a difficulty into an opportunity. A catalyst sees a challenge for growth in every problem, instead of just focusing on the problem. As a catalyst, one can make a positive, dynamic difference to self and to others.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Last Sunday we attended the 18th birthday party of our granddaughter Boni. How excitingly different from the usual “debut”! It was termed a ‘street party and a pool party’. The venue was a cozy brick-laid courtyard under a tented roof; about one third of the courtyard sported a lovely raised swimming pool complete with several mini waterfalls. On one side of the courtyard was a sound-proof karaoke room for those who wanted to sing. In the back a photo booth took crazy and not-so-crazy pictures of the party-goers.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Manila, Thursday. The electricity came back on around 2 am this morning, after being in the dark for about 24 hours. Just to have light again was wonderful!

It is so silent this morning as I write this early in the dawning day. Usually at this time people are passing by, going to school, going to work, and just going. The street in front of our house is silent this morning; even the dogs are silent. The only sounds I hear are the morning paeans of praise of the birds that nest in the trees and bushes in our small garden, welcoming the day, thanking God for the passing of the storm, and singing joyfully just because they can.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

This last week we were blessed to have Fr. Pepe Vincoy of Dumaguete Diocese as our house guest for several days. We had asked him to come to bless the new home of our granddaughter Bianca, Aaron, her husband, and Christopher Gabriel, their first-born son, and to visit several other homes for blessing and cleansing.

While he was here, we had several interesting and inspiring discussions about almost everything. He was also a guest on my radio program; we discussed why marriage in the church, as a sacrament, is so important. I will tackle that topic in another column.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FIGNGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Jun and I are “great” again, great grandparents, that is! Our second great grandchild joined our family June 16. Born to our granddaughter Bianca and her husband Aaron Gutierrez, Christopher Gabriel is a healthy baby and looks like he will grow tall and strong. Congratulations to the daddy and mommy and to all of us in the Catan, Atienza and Gutierrez families.

When a baby is born, I am reminded of the wise adv ice the Lebanese philosopher Kahlil Gibran wrote about children and their parents in his book “The Prophet”. I would like to share them with you to remind us all of the purpose of God in giv ing us the blessings of children in our families and of the role of parents in the child’s upbringing.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: DR. PROCESO UDARBE

Since we declare in our Constitution that our nation is under God, are we committed both in word and deed that our nation is so?

Are you aware of the declaration in our national Constitution of 1986 that we are under God? It is thus stated in the preamble. It was the right thing to do after the 20-year rule of a dictator whose word was law. The preamble states that “we employ the help of the Almighty God.”
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Several weeks ago during his visit to Manila, Al Gore presented updated data about climate change and its impending catastrophic effects. Sometimes it is not easy to see the good in a situation like the devastation wrought by super typhoons or earthquakes, sudden sinkholes or violent volcanic eruptions.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that the melting of an iceberg at the North Pole or the destruction of the coral reefs in Australia or the encroachment of the desert on villages in Africa should be of concern to me.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS

I am glad that there is a Father’s Day. Way back when there was only a Mother’s Day in May I always wondered what happened to the “fathers”? Why wasn’t there a day when we honor our fathers? After all, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for our fathers!

My father, Jarvis Russell, died in the early ‘70s when I was already married and living in the Philippines.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

“Smile and the world smiles with you!” This bit of wisdom from my childhood has jogged my smile muscles awake more and more lately. I am in the midst of super busy days, at the MAPECON office, as Portal Editor of the BCBP Community Website, www.bcbp-phil.com, and as mother and grandmother.

The last weekend of May, Grace, 5, and Paul, 7, two of our 12 apo, stayed the weekend with us. Grace is a sweet little lady who loves to read and to tell stories; she wants to be a teacher. Paul is a lively, inquisitive boy who loves to ask the hard questions. Both of them are joys to have around. They can generate smiles over the simplest things … our dog’s soulful eyes begging for a hug, Dr. Seuss’ “Thinks You Can Think”, a big plate of spaghetti, a tickle and hug ‘fight’.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

The other day I was enjoying the fun that our puppies were having as they chased their shadows, while their mom was stretched out half asleep in the shade of our mango tree. When the puppies got tired, they just plopped down in the coolest spot of shade they could find in our garden and slept.

I was reminded of a verse that intrigued me way back in my elementary days. It goes like this: “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of it is more than I can see.” There are several more verses that I can’t seem to remember, but these two lines have stuck with me throughout the years.
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FOOTSTEPS AND FINGERPRINTS
by: NANCY RUSSELL CATAN

Last Saturday, May 15, Jun and I were privileged to attend the Ruby Jubilee of Religious Consecration of our dear cousin, Sis Carmeli Marie V. Catan, OSA, held at the La Consolacion Convent Chapel, San Juan, Manila. Truly it was an inspiring morning for everyone who filled the chapel to overflowing, for family and friends of the five religious sisters who celebrated their 40 years in the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation congregation.

In his homily, the main celebrant His Excellency Most Rev. Socrates B. Villegas, D.D., Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan said that we can never really understand God’s love for us, we can only love Him not only with our hearts and minds, but with our very lives. In God’s eyes, he told us, these forty years of consecrated life in the Augustinian community, although they may have been filled with challenges, difficulties, and trials, as well as joys and successes, are but perhaps forty minutes according to God’s timetable, a preparation for enjoying eternity in His love.
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