This coming August officially marks four years since starting Leaven in the World, and it already feels like a lifetime ago. My oldest daughter was only 9 months old, and the reality of being a stay-at-home-mom was just beginning to sink in. On the one hand, I was exhausted from trying to keep up with this tiny human. On the other hand, I was bored out of my mind. This blog was my way of remembering that I had something worth saying (even in the midst of endless piles of laundry and subpar attempts at cooking), and that from my tiny corner of the world, it was possible for me to make a difference in a role apart from being a wife and mother. And so I wrote.

Fr. Brian came on board at the beginning of 2014. We were friends and classmates at WTU, where we commiserated over Christology and Christian Anthro, and laughed at how much we cried at our Theological Reflection seminars. I marveled at his organizational skills (guys, he had a different binder dedicated to each day of the week), and he in turn would witness me on the verge of a nervous breakdown whenever finals rolled around. I was ecstatic when I found out the Oblates assigned him to the same parish where I was DRE, and since 2012, he’s been bouncing his homilies off of me on an almost weekly basis. When I pitched the idea of posting his homilies online, Salesian Sermons was born.

Today, I’m super excited to share the news that I’m going to be published for the first time! In May 2018, Paulist Press will be publishing a collection featuring contributions from young adult Catholics on the occasion of the October 2018 Synod of Bishops on the theme of “Young People, the Faith and the Discernment of Vocation”. As part of that collection, I offer my perspective as a young adult Filipino-American Catholic, and Brian played a key role in bringing clarity to a topic about which I could go on and on. Getting published is one of those things that I’ve always secretly dreamed of. I’ve loved writing for as long as I can remember and the fact that I get to write about something that is close to my heart is truly a confirmation that the Spirit hears us even when we don’t realize we’re saying it.

With my youngest starting preschool in the Fall, my hope is that I’ll be able to step up my blogging schedule while still navigating my current gig working from home doing marketing and web/graphic design. I hope to continue exploring some topics that were touched off by my reflection on the Filipino-American experience in the Catholic Church. You’ll also be happy to hear that with Fr. Brian’s new assignment (still within the Wilmington Diocese), he’ll be preaching weekly again, so that means a weekly dose of homilies for you guys.

So I think that’s it for now! If you are getting something out of this blog, please don’t forget to subscribe, comment and/or share away! On social media? You can follow Leaven in the World on Facebook and Twitter. We are so glad to have you here, and are honored to be included in your journey to be leaven in the world.