Fr. Brian Soliven Sermons

If you have ever attended a Catholic wedding, more than likely you’ve heard the Second Reading from Mass today. It comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It’s probably his most famous and most quoted scripture verse of all times. He writes: “ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not...

" Bless me father for I have sinned... I killed 3 million people. " I imagine that's how the confession would have began when Rudolf Höss asked for a priest. Höss is the infamous Auschwitz commandant of the Nazi's largest and most brutal concentration camp. Under his cold, calculating leadership, he oversaw the wholesale death of millions with the efficiency of an automobile assembly lin...

There are few things in life as joyful as a wedding reception. It touches the depths of the human heart, which instinctively longs for love. So when we see it in action in the union of a woman and man in holy matrimony, we cannot help but celebrate. It is in this context that Jesus performs his first public miracle at the behest of his Mother Mary, "They have no wine." Little did the wedding guest...

We’re all amazing at putting up fronts for others. We try to project an image that we’ve got it all together, that we’re fine and dandy, and in total control. Yet despite our mastery, God sees through our facade with crystal clarity. He does not come to reprimand but to reveal. There’s no need to pretend anymore. He shows us who we truly are, even in our mess that we’ve gotten so good at hiding.&n...

Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the Magi who have come from the East to adore Him.  --- 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 s...

Happy New Year! As we kick off 2022, we begin where Jesus human life began -- with his Mother Mary. Through her Jesus enters into our world as a son. His Incarnation as a baby has radical new implications for you and I, in fact, for everyone that exists. We have adoption into a family.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners li...

The first Sunday after Christmas is always Holy Family Sunday, the patrons of which our parish is named after. What makes for a "holy" family? The life of Jesus, Mary his mother, and his foster father Joseph gives us a clue. If we want our families to be holy, look to their example.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like...

The freezing hurricane-like wind felt like a slap in the face, it was hard to breathe. The snow drifts made it impossible to know when the edge of the road ended and the cow pasture began. It was the epitome of what mountain people call "white-out" conditions. Undaunted, I had to make it to Mass to celebrate the mystery of all mysteries -- the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the light in darkness, th...

I can understand why some people think Christianity is a soft religion. After all, the God we proclaim wore a diaper. He drooled and cried. His mother Mary rocked him to sleep, probably singing lullabies. Even more so, this God of ours in his final act, was nailed to a wooden cross like a common thief. All of this points to weakness. Or was it?  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’...

October 7th, 1571: the largest navel battle in history was about to begin. The two fleets barreled toward one another as the future of Christian Europe hung in the balance. The commander of the flagship of the Catholic armada, Don John of Austria, suddenly surprised his soldiers. He started dancing. Yes dancing. In that strange, seemingly inappropriate display before a bloody battle, he exuded the...

Have you ever wondered what God thinks when he looks upon you? It's a strange question, I know. It's even stranger to imagine that God even spends any time pondering us. Yet he does. If you are a parent, you may have an insight into the heart of the Creator more than you realize.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you...

Christianity is a waiting religion. We wait for the Him who promised to return to us. We wait for Him in a world that sees no value in waiting. It entices us to take, to accumulate, to seek after the passing glittery things. Yet for all its glitz and glamour, I dare say, the human heart knows a counterfeit when it sees it -- the meaning of life cannot be found in power or pleasure. So the faithful...

"Father," said the frantic voice on the phone. "I think a demon is chasing me!" As a priest, calls like this in the middle of the night do not surprise me. I told this trouble person to come into my office early the next morning. I'd be happy to pray with him, to give him bottles of holy water, rosaries, blessed medals, you name it. However, when I told him the best thing he could do to get the de...

Autumn quickly descends upon us. The days grow darker; leaves fall to their death. The cold chill shivers our spines. The Scriptures readings at the Holy Mass turns our attention to the Last Things -- Heaven, Hell, Death, and Final Judgement. We contemplate our inevitable end; and rightly so. All things will be brought to bare. The consequences of our actions are illuminated by God's piercing ligh...

Last Sunday as I saw many families in costumes, carving pumpkins, and eating candy -- all celebrating the Halloween traditions -- I could not help but smile and giggle (in a very masculine way) . "Do they realize they are behaving like good Catholics?" I chuckled to myself. When you peal back the layers of the traditions that we now associate with this holiday, the deeper meaning of Halloween come...

In the middle of Wyoming lies 10,000 acres of wide open cattle pasture, at Neo-gothic monastery is slowing rising into the big open sky, stone by granite stone. A group of Carmelite monks, whose average age is a baby-faced twenty-four years old, live a strict life of silence, prayer, and manual labor. Why would any young man choose such a "deprived" life? The answer is actually quite simple: to li...

If someone were to ask you, "Why did Jesus have to die?" How would you answer? In today's Gospel Jesus gives us the 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, consider supporting this volunteer effort. Every gift helps us continue recording and sharing the hope of Jesus—one homily a...

If you ever visit the Sierra Valley, take a drive and take notice of the names of the old ranches. You'll begin to see a familiar pattern: Roberti, Magdelena, Dotta, Genasci, Filippini. It recalls a time when this place was settled by the Swiss Italians over a hundred years ago. This whole nation, in fact, was built by our immigrant ancestors that came from all parts of the world. What unites them...

The tone in his voice changed. "Something has happened in these last few years," he said solemnly. Over ten years had passed since we were ordained priests. Middle age was now quickly approaching; gone were the eager young men in their 20's. "A deeper pain has unexpectedly appeared since we made the promise of celibacy all those years ago," he admitted. He took a deep breath: "It hurts that I will...

In over ten years of priesthood, I've only had two occasions when someone stormed out of the church because of something I said. The most recent occurred last Easter when I brought up the unpopular, often misunderstood topic of hell. Yes hell. On Easter. With our modern religious sensibilities, we do not like thinking about this topic. In fact, I dare say if we asked a jam-packed room of fifty peo...

What does it mean to be great? To be amazing? To be beautiful? For many of us, if we want to stand in the pantheon of the elite, we need the right exterior look, the massive bank account, the head-turning car, the stellar home worthy of the front cover of Architecture Digest. We'll even sacrifice our health and even our most cherish relationships to achieve such status. In the Gospel for last Sund...

There's no escaping from suffering, no matter how hard we try. The only choice we have is what to do with the pain. The world tells us to medicate the pain, with drink or drugs; ignore the pain through the incessant buying of things. We can distract from the pain with the myriad of sins we do to console ourselves. All the while, the pain eats us from the inside. Or we can embrace the pain, "pick u...

If you want to pray the Mass like a pro, all it takes is your "heart". I'm not talking about the English connotation of the word, which is easily reduced to mere emotions or superficiality. I'm speaking of the biblical and profound idea of "heart". In Hebrew, heart can be translated to "leb". It means the deepest core of who we are. It is the depth of our innermost soul, with no masks or self-delu...

Imagine the human heart from God's perspective. Granted with the gift of freewill, how can he convince you and I, to love him and give him the totality of our heart? In the Scripture readings today at the Holy Mass, he reveals his crazed plan. The only question that remains, will it be enough to woo you? --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous...

Our First Reading for Mass today kicks off with a battle from the last book of the Bible: "Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth." (Revelation 12:4). Do you remember the last time we heard about a woman and dragon in Scripture? From the first book of the Bible: "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the&...