Fr. Brian Soliven Sermons

If your Lent is easy, you're doing it wrong. The threefold pillars of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving is engineered to strike at the source of our dysfunction -- pride. And pride, my friends, never goes quietly into the dark night. --- 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 th...

Death is certain for us all. The ashes we receive during the beginning of the holy season of Lent, remind us of this inconvenient fact. The fasting, almsgiving, and prayer that we do during this time is meant to shift our eyes on Heavenly things. All things will fade. Only God remains. We are called to live it. --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to g...

It's estimated that men spent 11.4 Billion dollars this past Valentine's Day on gifts for their significant other. That's a lot of expensive chocolates and flowers! When we break it down, each man on average doled out a whopping $153.65. As commercially laden this holiday has become, the heart of this spending is actually stunningly biblical. Genesis 1:26 reveals that each person is created in God...

The most influential book in human history is the Holy Bible. Through God's revelation, Western Civilization would arise and eclipse all others. But where did this mysterious book come from? Who put it together? In this presentation, we explore the Bible's historical development and how its saving revelations still influences our world today. --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homili...

The headline blared in the Guardian, " If we have no history, we have no future ." How blaringly true that is. Our past roots us, guides, and shows us the path forward. I dare say that if we forget where we came from, we will be like a little boat tossed about in a category 5 hurricane, lost to the winds. However, when we learn our story, we can finally live up to our powerful God-given potential...

Who do you belong to? At first glance this question can seem strange, even bizarre. As adults, we hear that question, and our knee jerk reaction is to yell, "NO ONE!" We tend to interpret this question through the lens of power. However, if you ask a little five-year-old child, "Who do you belong to?" they will understand that question entirely differently. They will probably answer, "I belong to...

We hardly know anything about the first 30 years of Jesus' life, beside the details of his birth and that one brief episode when Mary and Joseph lost him in Jerusalem as a young boy. Other than that, it's a silent mystery. Now suddenly, in our Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus embarks on what would eventually turn out to be a three year public mission of healing, preaching, teaching, and final...

Often times I hear the adjectives "rigid," "boring," and "ritualistic" to describe how Catholics worship. Somehow, the thinking goes, that the value of something is based on how new or fresh it is. I beg to differ. The things that stand the test of time will always outlast the fades. Our rigidity and ritualism, I contend, is a deep well of Catholicism genius. Take the rigid and ritualistic words o...

We having a boring God. He tends to do the same things over and over. Whenever He creates something new, two things are predictably present: water and the Spirit.  We see this in the first line of the entire Bible in Genesis when he creates the universe. We see it again in the story of Noah's ark. We see it when he leads Moses and the Jewish people through the Red Sea. And we again, see this...

If you have ever experienced a broken heart, you already know what I am about to tell you: every loving relationship involves pain . A safe love exists only in fairytales. The family is designed to be intense, like a fiery hot forge of love in which we are challenged and molded . --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If h...

We are all born into a family, even God himself in the Nazareth home of Mary and Joseph. What makes them holy? How can our own families be "holy" as well? --- 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 h...

The frustrating thing about living our faith is that we are not in control. The Christian must make a conscience decision to let go and be lead, wherever that may be. God promises the road will be hard but he does not abandon us. The Blessed Mother shows us how to follow and to follow well. --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners lik...

God is coming, without fanfare, pomp or highfalutin pageantry. He comes simply. Are you ready? --- 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 at a time. Give Here: https://frbria...

1500 hundred years separated St. John of the Baptist and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Yet, they both had similar missions: preparing the way for Jesus Christ. --- 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 hop...

With all the pain and fear that comes with death, lies a powerful gift. It helps us cut through the clutter of the superfluous and focus on the superb in our lives. We get to the heart of what really matters. When we finally humble ourselves with the knowledge that we all soon will one day die, ironically, is when we truly start to live.  --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homil...

As the season of Advent begins, we Christians start to get ready. We take a hard, honest look at ourselves and ask, "Are we ready to meet Jesus?" He tells us bluntly in today's Gospel reading: " you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. " (See Matthew 24:44) --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian’s homilies are shared freely thanks to generous l...

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ epitomizes the vulnerability of God. We see firsthand, the King of the Universe, " the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible... " die the agonizing death of a criminal slave (Colossians 1:15-16). With all his power and might, he empties himself for the sake...

One of the great blessings of living in the United States is our ability to practice our faith in peace. Not so in many parts of the world. According to the Pew Research Center, Christianity is the most persecuted religion on the planet. When we hear the words of Jesus in today's Gospel reading, we should not be surprised: " they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagog...

Jesus couldn't be more clear: we're all locked in spiritual warfare. He tells us bluntly in Luke 22:31, " Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat,  but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail.. ." The name "devil" itself, is derived from the Greek work diabolos, meaning "to throw apart, to scatter." Our true enemy seeks to divide our churches, our families, our relatio...

This week, I break down an amazing email that I recieved a few weeks ago. As any preacher will tell you, we can easily fall into the devil's trap of thinking that no one is listening. All our effort and prayer is wasted. We might as well be shouting into the darkness. Yet from time to time, God reminds us that he can still pierce hearts, through us, his broken and sinful messengers. We need only t...

As hard as I try, I will fail you as your priest. My legion of faults and vices will always get in the way for those I am called to serve. Yet amazingly, the freeing truth is that we are not alone in this battle. God has given us brothers and sisters who have won the fight, finished the race, and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). This " great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, fro...

If we want better lives, happier families, a vibrant parish, and an intense relationship with Jesus Christ, there’s one thing we can do now that will make all the difference in the world: KILL THE PRIDE. Squash it. Strangle it. Punch it in the face. Our pride is the greatest obstacle in our relationships with one another and especially with the almighty God himself. Pride tells us we are self-suff...

Emotions are fickle. Superficial beauty fades away. And yet, the powerful truth remains.  --- 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 at a time. Give Here: https://frbria...

When we grow in trust, the crosses of life can become bearable and maybe even beautiful.  --- 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 at a time. Give Here: https://frbria...

What are you doing with all your power and strength? That is the question Jesus proposes to us today with our Scripture readings this Sunday. When we use our gifts for others, were given something even better in return. --- 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...