Could you use a spiritual “expresso shot” today? Want to explore such topics as “Making Sense of the Christian Thing,” “Behold the Lamb of God,” “The Kingdom of God is at Hand,” “Personal Relationships,” “Why God Allows Suffering,” “The Narrow Gate,” “Why We Wait,” “The Trinity,” and “Breaking of the Bread”?
That’s what Father Brian Soliven, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Portola, offers in his three-to-four minute videos on social media (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) and his website at www.frbriansoliven.com.
In response to communication challenges during the pandemic, Father Brian started “Catholic expresso shots” on his website and personal and parish Facebook pages. The inspirational videos are shot outdoors to take advantage of the mountain and forest scenery not far from the rectory. In some of the videos during the winter, he is among the trees and it is snowing. His “shots” are condensed homilies and reflections on the daily and Sunday Mass readings. His Sunday homilies and podcasts are also available on his website and many podcast apps.
“Preaching the Gospel has always been a real enjoyment for me,” he says. “Helping people to grow closer to Christ and teaching them about their faith, especially young people. It’s always been a real fit for me, and feels natural with the talents the Lord has given me.”
Because Internet strength in Portola, with a population of 2,100, was inconsistent, Holy Family Parish could not livestream Masses. “We had to be more creative, so we started pre-recording homilies and posting videos on Facebook and YouTube. We separated the homily out from the Mass so it would be more sharable and digestible, and people could view it easily.”
The “expresso shots” filled a gap when he could not celebrate daily Mass in person. “We branded it and wanted to make it sound different – a nice quick spiritual burst,” he notes. He tries to produce a video two times a week.
“It’s ideal to shoot outside to take advantage of our beautiful mountain scenery,” he says. “My rationale was to get something different into people’s social media feeds and we could also email them out. It’s been a great outreach for many people who couldn’t come to church, to help them stay connected to the parish and share with other family members. I know some non-Catholics also watch the content. I also like to wrap in some church history into many of the videos.”
Father Brian, who was ordained in 2011, is a graduate of Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and the North American College in Rome. He grew up as a member of Good Shepherd Parish in Elk Grove and graduated from UC Davis. He has been serving Holy Family and Holy Rosary Mission in Loyalton since 2016. The parish and mission combined have some 250 parishioners. He previously served as parochial vicar of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Carmichael and St. Joseph Parish in Vacaville.
During summer 2020, he and parishioners remodeled a room in the rectory into an adoration chapel. He livestreams his holy hour from the chapel and encourages parishioners and others tuning in join in prayer at home. “They will tune in and say father is praying now, whether it is late at night or 6 a.m. in the morning,” Father Brian says. “I ask them to include their prayers in the comment section on Facebook. I knew I needed to pray more during the pandemic so this is a motivator to keep my prayer life strong. Prayer is the rock that will get us through this pandemic, as it will be with us for the foreseeable future.”
He prays the rosary every day and that keeps his mind and heart centered on the Lord. “It’s the lifeblood of my ministry and prayer life,” he says. Among his “Catholic expresso shots,” he dedicated a video on Oct. 7, 2020 to delve deeply into the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
Recently, the parish started small prayer groups on Zoom and in person “for people longing for connection,” he says. “Even though people are staying away from church, they are thirsting for authentic relationships.”
During the pandemic “it’s definitely been hard and frustrating, because without in-person worship a lot of people disappeared. People are worried or got out of the habit of going to Mass,” he notes. “We are still missing a large number of people and how to reach out to them is difficult. How we minister safely and be cognizant that everyone has a different opinion along the spectrum about COVID is a challenge.”
“It’s survival at this point,” he says. “How do we engage with those who are scattered, perhaps gone because they are now not in the habit of attending anymore and because many of those people are not coming back? They say you form a new habit after 30 days, so they are forming new habits and God may not be part of that anymore.
“I can see the need for people to truly make a commitment to Christ – meaning if people have fallen away because of the pandemic maybe we need to strengthen their faith. How do we form disciples no matter what happens? What the pandemic has shown is a need of discipleship among our people. It’s shown us that our roots need to be deepened. How can we increase people’s love and fidelity in order to withstand the trials – not just of a pandemic, but of the challenges of life? How do we deepen people’s faith so they remain strong in the face of the storms, no matter how fierce? This pandemic won’t be the only challenge we face in the coming years.
“We’ve faced many challenges before and the strategy is always the same: we must have fidelity, prayer and fasting,” he concludes. “All of our programs are important, but if we aren’t rooted in prayer and fasting and using the tools the Lord gave us, we won’t be successful. We always have to return to the basic proclamation of the Gospel.”
LEARN MORE
About Holy Family Parish in Portola at www.holyfamilyparishportola.org.