MARICEL GATCHALIAN-BADILLA
On January 25, 1998, I married a missionary. I prepared myself for a lifetime of service as I vowed to spend the rest of my life with a man called to full-time mission work for our Catholic lay community. Fast forward to the present, we have become a missionary family serving the youth and young couples. No longer full-time missionaries, but blessed nonetheless.
As my friends started celebrating their silver wedding anniversaries, we would be invited to various anniversary celebrations, from the most intimate to the grandiose. These celebrations were happy, but I was searching for a more meaningful way of commemorating our first 25 years together. My husband and I started discussing the kind of celebration we wanted for ourselves – a celebration that is not just about us but the kind of life we strive to live.
Project 25, on our 25th year, commenced.
Finding the location was easy as I had an aunt well-connected to the parish and the Local Government Unit (LGU) in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. It was the perfect place to look for 25 couples willing to be married in church but did not have the means to do so. We wanted to share the blessing of the sacrament of marriage with them as our thanksgiving to God for what 25 years of married life has done for us. Living with someone is not easy if not bound by God. It is so easy to break up when the going gets tough. The vow we made to each other before God helped us withstand the challenges of married life. The resolve to stay together is stronger because we made that vow – for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death does us part. And so, we sponsored what could be every woman’s dream wedding.
The much-awaited day arrived. We travelled with our son and other close family members willing to make the weekday trip to Mindoro. My original bridesmaid was there to celebrate with us too! As we marched down the aisle for our renewal of vows, 22 other couples marched after us. We experienced indescribable joy witnessing women all dressed in white and men in their charming white polo make their vows to each other. As I sat there watching this celebration, my heart was full. This is the kind of celebration I wanted; sharing it with people who couldn’t have this kind of wedding on their own. There was so much joy in the St. Joseph Cathedral as families received the priestly blessing.
Endless photos were taken. Messages of thanks from the couples were heard. One couple approached and gave me an envelope. In it was a thank you note for us. Reflecting on it, I realized how biblical that act was, remembering the ten lepers Jesus healed, with only one coming back to Jesus to thank him for restoring him to good health. We did not expect the couples to thank us. Their willingness to be married in church and share our wedding anniversary date was already a blessing – a symbol that our marriage is not only for ourselves.
We intend to keep sharing our lives with others so they too may be blessed.