Raul Tabaranza blog

I was so touched by the preaching of our retreat master this morning about the little crosses that we carry. I thought of writing a little bit about this. In the past, the cross was seen as a punishment, a defeat or a loss. Many were crucified for public scandals. But after the death of Jesus, the cross became a symbol of victory. Jesus triumphed over death. Today, as I was reflecting on the cross, few things came into my mind. I went through some little crucifixions in my journey to priesthood and as a missionary in Africa. I have shared these things many times to you. Just when I joined the seminary, my mother had her final stroke that completely made her paralyzed. I was even asked in the seminary if I want to leave. I said I will continue, I trust that the Lord will take good care of my mother. She was almost dying on my first holiday, and my relatives asked me if I have to go back to the seminary. I said “yes”, but that was the most painful yes I have ever said in ...

This is another contemplation during my retreat in Rome this year that I would like to share with you. Again, these are just scattered thoughts, so forgive me. Genesis 3:1-21 What caught my attention right away is the Serpent, a real seducer and instrument of Satan. He has a very vile purpose to destroy Adam and Eve. He injected a doubt on Eve, pretending to give enlightenment and promised knowledge and awareness if they will eat the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve was the object of the attack, because she was very frail, she was alone, very far from the intervention or counsels of Adam. She did not probably understand the effect of eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. It is strange that we take for granted temptation very easily. There is material temptation and other forms of vanities. Even here in the retreat, there is always the temptation of Internet, phone and sensualities. There is even temptation in words, lies, deceit, painful words, that myself...

7:30pm ADORATION Dear Raul@34, As of this writing, I am on a retreat in Lyndenburg, and I really thought of you a lot, because even just on the introduction of the retreat, and on the first day too, I saw a lot of similarities in your life, so I thought of writing this letter to you, as a reminder of the beautiful gift of vocation you have received from the Lord. Your priesthood….. The retreat master started with s short verse from the gospel of Matthew 13:45-46. The story of a merchant who sold everything in order to buy the most very expensive Pearl. Being a merchant, he must be a very rich man, but he was not happy, because there was something missing. He was longing for the most expensive Pearl. He sold everything, practically everything he had, as jokingly, our retreat master said, even the chairs and tables and what he had in the house. He bought the Pearl and the result was great joy. He got rid of everything that he owned, the Pearl was everything for him, and he expe...

Before I entered the novitiate in 1998, we were sent for a work experience for three months. I was asked to work in the hospital. We were three actually who were sent in the hospital, but I will only share here my personal experience. We rented a room, and we used also our salary for the rent, provisions, transport and other necessary expenditures. I worked as a janitor in one of the biggest hospitals in Manila, but it was a secret. I was assigned on the the third floor, cleaning the wards, polishing the floor and also at the Intensive Care Unit. I will share first the funny side of my experience. Our uniform was white and gray pants. Since I had a fair skin, people in the hospital called me many times “doctor” by mistake. Many times, students and patients too, thought I was a doctor, and I just laughed. Sometimes, I had to show them the mop and tell them, “I am a janitor here.” They would laugh. My fellow janitors didn’t believe also that I am a janitor. One of them, ask...

I would like to look back from the year 1974-1980, from Grade 1 to Grade 6, when there was no electricity yet in our town. Sibutad is just a small town of Zamboanga Del Norte, and we moved there for good around 1973, and we were just temporarily staying in a tent because we were selling dry goods, ready to wear clothes and groceries. I formally started my Grade 1 there as a visitor because my brother Edgar would cry going to school by himself. As a visitor, I was not even enrolled as Grade 1, though I was in school everyday. It was my teacher, Mrs. Lolita Tolentino, who said, that my marks are high and I could cope up, so I must be officially enrolled as Grade 1 instead of a visitor. Recess time, with ten centavos, we could get a good snack. Then we ran underground of our school to play rubber bands or to collect some insects from the dusty area. In the afternoon, with five centavos, nutri bun was also ready. Our old school had a long hall way, we used to clean the whole hall ...

Castel Gandolfo (Italian pronunciation: [kasˈtɛl ɡanˈdɔlfo] Latin: Castrum Gandulphi, colloquially Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects) is a town located 15 miles (24 kilometres) southeast of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy.[1] Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel Gandolfo has a population of approximately 8,834 residents and is considered one of Italy's most scenic towns.[2] Within the town's boundaries lies the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo which serves as a summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. Although the palace is located within the borders of Castel Gandolfo, it has extraterritorial status as one of the properties of the Holy See and is not under Italian jurisdiction. The resort community includes almost the whole coastline of Lake Albano which is surrounded by many summer residences, villas, and cottages built during the 17th century. It houses the Stadio Olimpico that stage...

Lake Albano (Italian: Lago Albano or Lago di Castel Gandolfo) is a small volcanic crater lake in the Alban Hills of Lazio, at the foot of Monte Cavo, 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Rome. Castel Gandolfo, overlooking the lake, is the site of the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo. In Roman times it was known as Albanus Lacus and lay not far from the ancient city of Alba Longa. With a depth of about 170 m (560 ft), Lake Albano is the deepest in Lazio. The lake is 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long by 2.3 km (1.4 mi) wide, and was formed by the overlapping union of two volcanic craters, an origin indicated by the ridge in its center, which rises to a height of 70 m (230 ft). Plutarch reports that in 406 BC the lake surged over the surrounding hills, despite there being no rain nor tributaries flowing into the lake to account for the rise in water level. The ensuing flood destroyed fields and vineyards before eventually pouring into the sea. Around 395 BC, during the wars between Rome and Veii, a disch...

From Grade V to High School, in our English classes, we had Formal Themes, and we had to write them in that hour, submit to the teacher for corrections and marks. Writing was always my favorite, and I elaborate in details my thoughts and reflections. I guess, since I was young, I was already a reflective person, and I normally express them in a form of diary or journal. One of the themes was this question above. “What I want to be when I grow up?” Always, I express my desire to be a doctor. Priesthood was not in my mind at that time. I wanted to study any course in Science and proceed to become a doctor. That was my only wish. When we were young, our town, Sibutad was very rural. When somebody gets sick, they had to be brought to Dipolog City or Dapitan City. This desire was more strengthened, because I was living with a sickly mother. I have shared in the past, her series of strokes and how we even had to hire a car in the middle of the night to rush her to the hospital....

This is a very spontaneous and very scattered reflection that I have made during my retreat. I hope you find it meaningful. MATTHEW 6:25-34 Do not value possessions enough to worry about them. My first realization is never to doubt God’s power to provide. God guarantees us what we need in life. He sustains me and protects my body. He feeds me like birds in the sky or covers me like flowers in the field. Wealth does not matter for God will provide our genuine needs. When I was still in the mission or in the Philippines, I tend to get worried about production, how much work I have made for the day, or I should do this and that etc. Sometimes, I am just a worrier, what to say or what to do with people, forgetting that God provides and that my work is His mission. God promises our basic needs. If He cares about the plants and animals, how much more to me? I am worthy, much more than them. He provides me adequately, things necessary for my physiological needs and to cov...

Yesterday was my anniversary of Priesthood ordination. I intended to keep it to myself, in silence and simplicity. I am very used with the simplicty of my special days in Africa, most of the times I was in the jungle for ministry or gathering firewood and other activities. I never had a real party or one, normally everything in silence. The Lord has been so good to me, planted me in a very fertile mission, allowed me to explore many possibilities and gave me strength to face all difficulties and to cherish also wonderful moments. He brought me to far away places beyond my imagination! Too much of generosity to this poor soul! Thank you Lord for the gift of my vocation! Above all, my thanksgiving to my parents and family, who were so generous enought to offer me to the mission. I always dedicate my vocation to my late mother, who was a real support to me. When she was still bedridden and invalid, we have agreed to be partners- I will do the mission and she will do the contemplat...