Fr. Brian Soliven Sermons

Let me tell you the secret to prayer. It's radically simple yet heart-wrenching. From the outside, it seems pedestrian and vanilla-flavored. It's shockingly easy but don't be fooled; it's war.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have blessed you, consider supporting this volunteer effort. Every gift h...

Few people realize this fact; we're going to get a new body! When Jesus finally returns in the Second Coming, scripture tells us that the Lord will raise up the dead and reunite our souls and bodies. It will be unlike our bodies of old, however. As strange as this teaching about the resurrection is, in many ways, we all intuitively desire it. We spend billions of dollars to improve our current dec...

I had the great pleasure of celebrating Mass for the over 300 students and staff of our Notre Dame Catholic school. I shared with them the secret to every test and quiz they will ever encounter. The answer may not guarantee them an "A" in class but it will definitely give them the solution to the only question that really counts anyway.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homili...

We Christians have a long memory; we never forget our loved ones. This day the mighty Church prays for All Souls. We truly believe that what we do here on earth has an impact on our family and friends in Purgatory. Why do we believe this? Pope Benedict XVI summed it brilliantly: "Love reaches into the afterlife... our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death." (Spe Salvi) In...

We're made to be great saints! It's not reserved to the boring, church nerdy few. Quite the contrary, it's a path for all to embrace, if we dare. In the Book of Leviticus 19:2, God tells us to our face, " You   shall   be  holy ,  for   I   the   LORD   your   God   am   holy ." Let's get to work.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father...

In Genesis 1:27, God reveals the deepest truth of who we are. Each and everyone one of us is created in his "image and likeness." Human dignity rests on those simple, yet profound words. From that principle, we can begin to see why Christians fight for the life of the unborn. No matter how small or insignificant, from the moment of conception, the "ruah", the "breath of life" is instilled into us....

Do you want to know the secret to profound prayer? You may already know the answer. Think back to the last time you watched an ocean sunset. Notice how words tend to fall away in the face of the beauty. Your breathing slows as the breaths deepen, inhale, exhale, and repeat. You stare in silent contemplation; your heart begins to open. The weight of your problems fade to the fore. My friends, saint...

More than anything else, we need Jesus Christ. It's that simple. You and I, as baptized Christians, are tasked with the great mission of bringing Him to the heart of a starving, hungry, and confused world.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have blessed you, consider supporting this volunteer effort....

To be a faithful Christian is not easy in our day and age. The next time you’re at work, look around you. How many followers of Jesus Christ are there in the room with you? Most likely than not, you are in the minority. To live the teachings of Jesus can make us feel alone. The culture tolerates a “Christian lite” form of lived faith. If you proclaim you hold the age-old Church teachings of t...

On Saturday, the Kingdom of God grew by 10 more souls. These beautiful children, created in God's "image and likeness", were born again. Their journey to their eternal homeland of Heaven commences, as the waters of baptism flowed over their little heads. This is a good time to reflect upon the graces you and I received when we were baptized and not get distracted from the true prize that awaits us...

While imprisoned in Rome, St. Paul wrote the second reading that we heard at Mass this Sunday. Locked in chains and abandoned by his closest friends, he tells Timothy, "God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord... bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that co...

Few things still fascinates us as angels and demons. Unlike us, they are purely spiritual beings, while we are composed of both a spiritual and a physical nature. What would make one of these angels fall and become demons? The answer is surprisingly simple.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have ble...

After ringing the doorbell, her husband came to the door. “Thank you for coming”, he said to me as he reached out to shake my hand. “She will be happy to see you.” We both put on our medical masks due to her delicate immune system. He led me down the hallway to the master bedroom, as I glanced at the framed family photos to my left and my right. Wide smiles of young faces covered each picture. Thi...

Después de tocar el timbre, su esposo salió a la puerta. “Gracias por venir”, me dijo mientras se acercaba para estrecharme la mano. "Le dará gusto verlo". Ambos nos pusimos nuestras máscaras médicas debido a su delicado sistema inmunológico. Me condujo por el pasillo hasta el dormitorio principal, mientras miraba las fotos familiares enmarcadas a mi izquierda y mi derecha. Amplias sonrisas de ros...

The original Hebrew word behind the famous phrase, "Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!" in the Book of Ezekiel is הבל (Havel). It has the sense of vapor and smoke. It means all the powerful things in the world are as fleeting as air. If we want to truly build our purpose in life on solid rock, we must turn to "the way, the truth, and the life."  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Fathe...

Love baffles me. The mystery of how one chooses another never ceases to amaze poets and artists alike throughout the centuries. Imagine what it takes to say, "Yes, you. I choose you." Me, why me? St. Matthew would have felt utterly dumfounded in today's Gospel when Jesus calls to him, "Follow me" (Cf. Matthew 9:9). Matthew was a Tax Collector, hated above all us. He was seen as a traitor with the...

How you answer this question will determine the course of your life. It will help you get up in the morning. It will decide what you do with your precious time. It will even define why you breathe. For the Christian follower, there's only one real answer. --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have blessed you...

Many long hours were spent in prayer in this chapel depicted in the photo at my previous parish. When we designed it, I especially wanted the images of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Both of them are pierced. It was a constant reminder that as a priest striving for holiness, following Jesus would bring pain. There's no way around this reality. Staring at the Two Hearts...

Its hard to believe today that it took 400 years before Christians starting to use the cross in art. The earliest surviving image we have is a wood carving on the main doors of the church of Santa Sabina on the famous Aventine Hill in Rome. It's over 1500 years old. For the earliest Christians, the cross invoked fear and unimaginable suffering. It was Imperial Rome's way of keeping you alive as lo...

Have you ever found it hard to speak up for your faith? It happens to the best of us. Imagine now if you had to confront the most powerful people on planet earth. This was the case for St. John Chrysostom, the 4th century Archbishop of Constantinople. The Roman emperor and empress wanted to silence him for preaching the Gospel. Many would back down to such power. Not St. John. Their conversation w...

How many hours per day does the average American teenager (ages 13-18) spends on entertainment? The answer is a whopping nine! How about your average American tween (ages 8-12)? The answer is six! With all that media consumption floating around in their heads and hearts, how do you think they measure their value and worth? I think we know the answer. Jesus today in the famous parable of leaving th...

Keep an eye on the priest the next time you're at Holy Mass. As he processes in during the beginning of the sacred rites, he will kiss the altar. That little intimate gestures he often missed by those in the crowd. For the priest, he can never forget. Every altar is a reminder of sacrifice. Sacrifice equals altar; altar equals sacrifice. Sacrifice equals love.  --- Help Spread the Good News -...

Exactly nine months after the Church celebrated the Immaculate Conception of Mary, we now celebrate her birth. Bring out the cake, presents, and balloons. It's her day.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have blessed you, consider supporting this volunteer effort. Every gift helps us continue recordi...

"Blessed are the poor", Jesus says in today's Gospel, while the world says "Amazing are the rich." We scramble, claw, and elbow our way to the top, all the while happiness is already at our fingertips. We need not go far. The "one thing", or rather "the someone", makes us rich beyond our wildest dreams.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to gen...

In today's Gospel, we read that "Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God." (Cf. Luke 6:12) The next day he chooses the famous Twelve Disciples and renames them the "Apostles". That word comes from the Greek "apóstolos", which translated means "one who is sent off." Where are they being sent off to, we must ask ourselves? They are being sent to bring tru...