Fr. Brian Soliven Sermons

My friends, if only we could grasp this staggering truth: God does not love you as one among many, but as though you were the only soul He ever fashioned. His gaze is not a broad beam cast over humanity; it is a narrow and radiant shaft aimed straight at your heart. The One who carved the stars has considered every sorrow you carry and every hope you scarcely dare to utter, and He loves you not in spite of these things but through them, with a tenderness fierce enough to pursue you into any darkness and a joy eager to welcome you home. When this truth is allowed to enter the secret chambers of the soul, it becomes impossible to believe you are forgotten; for the God who holds the universe in His palm has never once let go of you.  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

We are far more valuable than we imagine ourselves to be; we are sons and daughters of the very Father whom Christ called His own. If we could see ourselves as Heaven sees us, we would walk with a courage that would unsettle every shadow in the world. And perhaps that is why the devil strains so fiercely to cloud our identity. For if he can lure us into forgetting whose children we are, he need not chain us; our own confusion will do the work for him. But the moment we remember, even faintly, that we belong to the Almighty, the darkness trembles, for it knows he is losing his grip.   --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Sooner or later every one of us reaches a moment when we realize we are lost. Perhaps someone here today feels that very thing – an inner drifting, a sense that spiritually or morally we’ve wandered from the path. Life hasn’t unfolded the way we expected. The days begin to blur into one another, wake up, eat, work, sleep, repeat. Somewhere in that routine we ask, Where is my life going?Dante, the Medieval Italian poet, put it powerfully when he wrote, “Midway on the journey of our life, I found myself alone and lost in a dark wood, having wandered from the straight path.” Many of us know exactly what that dark wood feels like.But hear the good news: Jesus Christ comes precisely for those who are lost. Christianity is not a reward for the strong; it is a lifeline for the weary. It is not a trophy for the disciplined; it is hope for those who finally admit they cannot fix themselves. That is why, in this Sunday’s Gospel, St. John the Baptist does not whisper but proclaims: “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand.”To repent is to say, “Lord, I have lost my way, and I need You to lead me home.” Unless we acknowledge that, we will never leave the dark wood. If we pretend we have everything together, we will never reach for the hand of the Savior stretched out toward us. And if we do not reach for Him, we will never know Jesus Christ as the One who rescues.Some say the Catholic Church asks too much – too many rules, too many expectations: confess your sins, fast during Lent, give back to God a percentage of your income, honor the Sabbath by attending Mass each Sunday. And yes, the Church asks much. But she asks much because she loves much. She has learned, through two thousand years of saints and sinners, that holiness requires real commitment. There is no such thing as cheap grace. As Scripture tells us, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Cf. Leviticus 19:2) When John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees, religious men with impressive knowledge, he rebuked them sharply: “You brood of vipers!” Why? Because they knew the law but lacked the heart. They understood Scripture, but their lives bore no fruit. Knowledge without surrender had left them unchanged. And so John cried out, “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance!”As we walk through this season of Advent, let each candle we light be a small but steady call out of the dark wood and into the marvelous light of Christ. He is coming, not to condemn us for being lost, but to lead us out if only we will let Him.So, do not imitate the Pharisees and Sadducees who believed they needed no Savior. Instead, lift your hands in surrender. Admit your need. Welcome Christ into the places where you feel most lost. Let Him take the lead, guide your steps, and show you once more the path home.  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

There was something wonderfully disarming about the way the sick came to Jesus -- no pretense, no polished virtue, only the quiet confession of need. And in that humble approach, His healing power shone brightest. For Christ never treated brokenness as a barrier but as a doorway through which His mercy might enter. He met trembling hands with compassion, fearful hearts with courage, and wounded lives with the peculiar grace that makes all things new. It is still so today: those who come to Him limping often rise again walking in hope. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

The following homily was delivered at a recent community wedding in which five couples, originally civilly married, had their marriages convalidated in the Catholic Church. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

In the spirit of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, giving thanks to God reminds us that gratitude is not only a personal virtue but a foundation for national character. Washington recognized that the blessings of peace, liberty, and opportunity were not earned by human effort alone, but were gifts worthy of humble acknowledgment. Following his example, we pause to express our thanks to God, both for the visible blessings that shape our daily lives and for the unseen guidance that sustains us through challenges. In doing so, we honor a tradition that calls us to humility, reflection, and renewed commitment to the greater good. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Gratitude is the posture that opens the Christian heart to God’s grace. When we choose to be thankful, especially in ordinary moments or difficult seasons, we acknowledge that every good thing in our lives is a gift from the Father’s hand. Thanksgiving reorients our vision: instead of dwelling on what we lack, we remember the One who provides, sustains, and loves us without measure. A thankful heart becomes a fertile place where joy can grow, humility can flourish, and trust in God deepens. In giving thanks, we do not simply list our blessings, we draw nearer to the Giver Himself. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

It is 1927, and life in Mexico is changing with alarming speed. A nation that once found its strength and identity in faith is now facing a wave of hostility. The government has adopted a harsh, openly anti-Catholic stance, determined to uproot the very beliefs that shaped the hearts of the people. At that time, more than 90% of Mexicans saw the Catholic faith as the center of their lives. It was woven into every part of their story. Children were baptized in the Church, educated in its schools, married within its walls, cared for in its hospitals, and guided by its priests at the hour of death. For nearly five centuries, to be Mexican and to be Catholic were inseparable truths.But the government under President Plutarco Elías Calles set out to sever that connection by any means necessary. He seemed to ask himself, “How can I destroy the faith of an entire nation?” And under his leadership, one of the most brutal persecutions of the Church began. Foreign missionary priests were expelled. Catholic schools were shut down. Churches were padlocked, making the celebration of Mass illegal. Priests and nuns were forbidden to wear their habits or cassocks in public—doing so meant immediate arrest.Yet, despite the fear and danger, the faithful refused to bow. Their courage grew stronger in the face of oppression. Among them was a priest named Fr. Miguel Pro, a man whose bravery became a beacon of hope. Defying every government order, he continued to minister in secret. He baptized the newborn, prepared couples for marriage, taught the faith, and offered the sacraments whenever and wherever he could. Though police searched for him relentlessly, he continued his mission with joy and determination until at last he was captured.Fr. Miguel would be sentenced to die by firing squad. Before the soldiers aimed their rifles at the priest they asked if he had any final words. He raised his arms in the shape of a cross and cried out with unwavering courage: “LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!”The government printed the image of execution on the front pages of newspapers across the country, hoping to fill Catholics with fear. Instead, it filled them with strength. His final cry ignited a fire of faith that oppression could not extinguish.And so today, we remember a truth that Fr. Miguel’s life and death proclaim clearly: only Christ truly satisfies the human heart. The joy and peace we long for will never be found in the false promises of our age. They cannot be found in money, possessions, status, or comfort. These things fade, disappoint, and leave us wanting more. But Christ never fails.Christ never fades. Christ alone is our peace. Christ alone is our joy. All other claimants to our hearts eventually fall silent. Only Jesus endures.VIVA CRISTO REY!  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

In the Book of Maccabees, the mother who watched her seven sons die rather than betray their faith stands as one of Scripture’s most radiant examples of courage. In the face of unimaginable loss, she refused to surrender to fear or despair. Her strength did not come from the hope of earthly rescue, but from her unwavering trust that God would honor their sacrifice with eternal life. She spoke not with bitterness, but with a fierce, holy love that lifted her sons’ eyes beyond the suffering of the moment to the glory prepared for them. Her bravery reminds us that true courage is born when the heart clings to what is eternal—when love for God becomes stronger than even the deepest grief. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

There comes a moment in every believer’s life when inherited faith will no longer suffice. The gentle warmth of family tradition, the comfort of familiar hymns, the rhythm of ritual—all these are good and precious things. Yet when the cold wind of opposition blows, when faith is mocked or maligned, or when sorrow cuts deep into the soul, such belief will crumble like a house built on sand. It is not enough to say, “I am Catholic because my parents were.” We must know why we are Catholic, and we must know it in the deep marrow of our being. To know why is to have met the Person behind the practice. Christianity is not a philosophy that one may simply agree with; it is an encounter with the living God. The Catholic faith, at its heart, is not a set of customs, nor even a system of thought, but the life of Christ extended through His Church across time and space. If you have not yet found Christ at the center of your Catholicism, then your faith has not yet reached its depth. You have the shell, but not yet the pearl.When persecution comes—and it always does, in one form or another—it strips away pretense. The comfortable explanations falter. To be Catholic because one enjoys the incense, the music, or the solemnity of liturgy is as fragile as being married because one enjoys the wedding reception. There will come a day when the joy of ceremony gives way to the labor of love, and only love will endure. So too, only love for Christ will hold us fast when, not if, the world turns against us.To say, “I am Catholic because I believe it is true,” is the beginning of strength. But even that belief must not rest on the shifting sands of emotion or cultural approval. It must be rooted in the conviction that truth Himself has revealed it. That Christ, who said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” continues to speak through His Church. That the sacraments are not symbols only, but encounters with the divine. That the Eucharist is not bread and wine, but God-with-us, under humble forms.If you know this, if you know Him, then no flame of persecution can consume your faith. For you will not merely cling to a doctrine; you will cling to a Person. You will not merely defend a tradition; you will defend your Beloved.So ask yourself, and ask sincerely: Why am I Catholic? Do not be content until your answer is alive with love, conviction, and wonder. For the day will come when you must answer not to the world, but to your own heart. And may your heart, knowing Whom it has believed, answer boldly: I am Catholic because it is true, because it is beautiful, and because through it I have found Christ Himself.  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Every baptized Christian, however small or obscure, bears a dignity that no earthly monument can rival. The Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran that we celebrate today reminds us that the Church is not first of marble or of gold, but of souls. The colossal statues of the twelve apostles that line its nave are not merely ornaments of stone, but symbols of the living reality upon which Christ builds His dwelling. Those massive figures, carved by human hands, point to a greater mystery: that the same Christ who made Peter a foundation and John a witness has made of every believer a living stone in His eternal temple.It is a humbling and exalting thought that we, so frail and often faithless, are chosen to bear the weight of glory. The Church’s beauty does not depend upon the grandeur of her buildings but upon the grace alive in her members. Even the smallest Christian, hidden in prayer or quiet service, adds a line to the architecture of heaven. The apostles stand in their marble stillness as reminders that our own lives are being hewn and fitted into a structure far greater than any basilica.Thus, as we look upon the Lateran’s soaring arches and its steadfast saints of stone, let us remember that the true cathedral is being built not in Rome alone but in every human heart that has been washed in the waters of baptism. Each of us, by grace, is part of that living edifice, one in which the Builder Himself has chosen to dwell.And perhaps this is the deepest wonder of all: that the Master Builder works not with flawless material, but with what is cracked and common. The apostles themselves were not marble when He called them, they were fishermen, tax collectors, doubters, and sinners. Yet through the fire of His love, they were made steadfast, and their weakness became strength. So too with us: our imperfections, offered to Christ, become the very texture through which His light shines. In every heart that yields to grace, the living stone is shaped a little nearer to its final beauty. The Church grows not by triumph or grandeur alone, but by the quiet chiseling of repentance, forgiveness, and charity until, at last, the whole structure resounds with one voice, a temple radiant with the presence of the living God.  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

They came to Him because, at last, they had found someone who saw them as more than the sum of their failures. The world had written its verdict on their lives—unclean, unworthy, beyond redemption—but Jesus looked past the grime and saw the image of God still glimmering beneath. His holiness did not repel them, as cold virtue might; it drew them, as fire draws the freezing. In His presence, they felt the staggering truth that they were loved not because they were good, but so that they might become good. And that, I think, is why they gathered close: because in Him, mercy was not a theory, but a face. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

This Advent, we are presented with a most extraordinary grace. Our own parish will host a first-class relic — that is, an actual fragment of the body — of the Church’s newest saint, Carlo Acutis, this coming Saturday, November 22nd, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Only weeks ago, in the grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica, before tens of thousands gathered in solemn joy, Pope Leo XIV declared this young fifteen-year-old, a bright spirit of the digital age, to be among the company of the saints. And now, through the kindness of his own mother, this sacred relic has been entrusted to us here in Vacaville. A touch of sanctity will be arriving here, in our very own town.To modern ears, the veneration of relics may sound curious, even unsettling. It’s one of those ancient customs that is at the same time bizarre, unique, and wildly weird about the Catholic faith. Yet the practice reaches back to the dawn of Christianity, when believers gathered at the tombs of martyrs not to worship bones, but to draw near to the holiness that God had kindled in them. They understood that grace leaves its mark; the human body, once filled with the Spirit, is not discarded like a shell but honored as a vessel that once bore divine fire. To venerate the saints, then, is not to cling to superstition, but to glimpse, through them, what God intends for us all: that our very flesh might become radiant with His glory.The first Christians knew well that the saints were men and women of dust, as frail and fallible as themselves. Yet in them they saw what grace could do. The martyrs in the amphitheatre, singing even as the beasts approached, were not displaying their own courage — they were displaying Christ’s triumph in human weakness. The ascetics in the desert, fasting and praying in solitude, were not exalting human will, but the will surrendered utterly to God. To venerate such lives was not to worship them, but to honor the Artist whose skill could carve holiness out of ordinary stone.If we are wise, we will learn from this ancient instinct. For the Christian life is not meant to be a solitary ascent, a lone pilgrim trudging toward a distant summit. It is rather a great procession of souls, each carrying the light a little farther, each learning from the glow of the one before. When we remember the saints, we are reminded that sanctity is not beyond us. We are meant, in some measure, to become like them.In truth, the saints are not competitors with Christ but His masterpieces. To honor them is to praise the grace that made them what they are. We can rejoice that the same grace that made holy is offered to us, here and now. This November 22nd, we can honor one of our brothers who made it home to Heaven, right here in Vacaville. I invite all of you to come for this special opportunity!  --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Imagine all the saints and angels stand about us as a great cloud of witnesses, not as distant spectators, but as dear friends leaning over the railings of Heaven, their faces alight with joy. They cheer us on. Every step we take toward the light sends ripples of gladness through that radiant company. To them, our smallest victories over despair and sin are no trifles; they are echoes of the same triumph that shook the world when Christ rose from the tomb. And so they beckon us onward, ever upward, until faith becomes sight and we, too, join the chorus of eternal praise. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Faith, like the body, is strengthened by strain. Ease has never made a saint, nor comfort a conqueror. When St. Paul pressed on through shipwreck, hunger, and chains, he was not merely enduring hardship, he was training his soul to trust a strength not his own. There is something deeply spiritual in doing what is physically hard: each drop of sweat whispers that the flesh is weak, and yet the spirit may still triumph. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Last Saturday, our parish retreat was an astounding success! It was a day that will long be remembered, not merely for the crowd it drew, but for the spirit that filled the air. Nearly two hundred and fifty souls came together, united by joy and fellowship, as we launched our new parish Mission Statement: “To be faithful like Mary.”It was not an ordinary hunger that stirred among us. It was a deeper kind; it was the hunger of hearts longing to know the truth that nourishes the soul. We desired to understand why the Blessed Virgin, whose name adorns our parish walls and whose fiat still echoes through the centuries, holds such a luminous place in the life of the Church.Together we journeyed back into the early dawn of Christianity, walking beside the voices of our ancestors in the faith, the saints and scholars who bore the torch of truth when the world was just starting to hear the Good News of the Gospel. We listened to St. Ignatius of Antioch, who once knew St. Peter himself—a single heartbeat away from the words of Christ. And in that closeness, that living chain of witness, we discovered what the earliest Christians knew beyond doubt: that the Church was, from the very beginning, deeply and thoroughly Catholic.During the time of questions, one of our newest parishioners, a convert from Protestantism, raised a tender yet courageous question. “Why,” she asked, “do so many non-Catholic Christians accuse us of worshiping Mary? When we pray the rosary or sing to her, they say we take away from Jesus.”Our speaker, Joshua Charles, himself a convert and a man whose intellect burns with zeal for truth, answered with great clarity. He explained that since the 16th century, much of Protestantism has turned away from the Holy Mass as a true sacrifice. To them, it became a mere symbol, a sacred reenactment but not the very reality of Calvary made present again.Here lies the key to so much misunderstanding. For Catholics, the highest form of worship is sacrifice—the self-offering of Jesus Christ to the Father upon the altar. It is in this divine act that all our praises, prayers, and devotions find their meaning and their end. But if one no longer sees worship as sacrifice, then song and prayer become the summit. Anything else, like love for Mary, can seem a rival to Christ rather than a reflection of Him.Yet Mary’s glory is no rival to His. She magnifies the Lord. Her faithfulness is the clear mirror that catches the sunlight of her Son. To be faithful like Mary is to let that same light pass through us, so that others, too, might see Christ shining more clearly in the world.And so, our retreat was more than an event; it was a quiet awakening—a rediscovery of what it means to be Catholic, to be faithful, to be, like Mary, utterly surrendered to the will of God. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

The teachings of Jesus, though rooted in love and truth, can sometimes divide families because they call each person to choose between the comfort of the familiar and the courage of faith. When one member decides to follow Christ wholeheartedly, it can challenge the values, traditions, or beliefs of others, creating tension where harmony once seemed certain. Yet even in this division, there is purpose; Jesus reminds us that true peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of conviction. Through faithfulness to His word, hearts can be transformed, and what begins in division can ultimately lead to a deeper, eternal unity grounded in truth and grace. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

It is a strange and splendid truth that the mightiest men are those who kneel most often. Pope John Paul II, like a knight of old, stood firm in the arena of a crumbling world not by the strength of sword or scepter, but by the silent, ceaseless watch of prayer. In an age addicted to speed and spectacle, he dared to believe that stillness before God was a greater act than any speech before men. His vigilance was not the fretful anxiety of the world, but the blazing calm of one who knew that the universe turns upon the hinge of a whisper to heaven. To pray without ceasing is to love without limit—and in this, the holy Pope taught us the true posture of revolution. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

Our Lord bids us to be vigilant, not out of fear, but because the world is not our true home. To ‘gird your loins’ is no idle metaphor; it is the act of a soldier who knows the battle is real though unseen, the traveller who knows the road is long but worth every step. Christ does not ask us to be anxious, but awake. The drowsiness of comfort, the slow poison of distraction these are the true dangers. We are called to live with lamps lit and hearts ready, not because the night is long, but because the dawn is certain. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give

When our Lord posed the haunting question, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”, He did not pose it as a riddle, nor merely as prophecy, but as a mirror held before our hearts. It is not faith in the abstract He seeks, as if counting theological knowledge  or measuring church attendance, but the kind of faith that breathes, wrestles, and walks with God when the world goes dim.It is easy enough, is it not, to believe in the light when all is bright? A child believes the sun will rise, not because he’s studied astronomy, but because it always has. But the Christian faith is tested not by the sunrise but by the silence of midnight. Will we still believe when the world mocks, when prayers go unanswered, when suffering strikes without explanation?Faith is not merely assent to a creed. Fallen angels do that, and tremble. No, the faith Christ longs to find is that defiant trust—a love-soaked loyalty—that looks full in the face of suffering and still whispers, “Jesus, I trust in you.” It is the faith of Abraham climbing Mount Moriah, of Daniel kneeling before open windows, of the Virgin Mary keeping all these things in her heart.We must not mistake familiarity for faith. There are many who have grown up going to Mass each Sunday whose hearts remain untouched by the burning presence of God.So, the question returns, echoing across centuries: Will He find faith?Let us not imagine that He is asking whether we have tidy answers or triumphant ministries. He is asking whether He will find hearts—wounded perhaps, weary certainly—but still turned toward Him. Will He find men and women who have not bowed to the golden idols of ease and spectacle, who have not traded the scandal of the cross for the applause of the world?If He finds even a mustard seed of such faith, it will be enough. For faith, in the end, is not the achievement of the strong but the desperate clinging of the weak to the One who is strong. And perhaps it is precisely in our clinging, trembling and uncertain though it may be, that Christ sees the echo of His own steadfastness in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, He asked the question. But it is we who must answer it with our lives. And when He comes, oh glorious terror, oh splendid hope, may He find us not with explanations, but with open hands, lifted eyes, and hearts still burning. --- 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://frbriansoliven.org/give