I want to tell you the story of Bree Solstad today. Her story has been featured by multiple Catholic outlets recently and is really beautiful. Bree grew up in a single parent household as a Lutheran, but drifted away from her Christian faith during her college years. She fell hard into drinking and promiscuity and eventually dropped out of college. After dropping out, she started a blog about her hedonistic lifestyle which caught the attention of a producer in the adult industry. Bree ended up getting recruited into that industry and became both a producer and actress.
Over time, this line of work progressively isolated her from others. She started feeling trapped by her choices, believing that she couldn’t do anything else since she had been involved in the adult industry for so long. A deep personal loss in her life drove her to pray for God’s help, but at the time she felt like God wasn’t answering. I can only imagine how she felt in those moments, seemingly alone in her grief. In 2023, Bree had the opportunity to travel to Italy and found herself inside countless beautiful churches. In her own words:
The majority of the places I wanted to visit were churches, because in Italy that is where all the great art is located. But once inside these beautiful old basilicas, cathedrals and churches, something changed in me and I began to appreciate the art and the churches themselves for the theology they expressed. It was like my heart was being pierced by beauty. … The crucifix was always right there in your face in all these Catholic churches. His gift to us was always plain to see as soon as I entered a church. For reasons I still can’t explain, I found myself getting down on one knee to cross myself when I entered and exited the churches.
In Sorrento and Rome, I remember seeing the Virgin Mary on street corners all over the place. … It was a surreal experience, but I really felt like Mary was calling me. … I felt compelled to seek her out. I wanted to greet her and ask her to help me with the effects of the tragedy that had previously occurred in my life. In Assisi … I knelt by [St. Clare’s] tomb and again asked for assistance.
From here, her story took a dramatic turn. She came back to the States and had what she describes as a life-changing conversation with a priest. Her journey back to God brought her to enter the Catholic church on Easter Vigil this past year. Bree wrote these words about her First Communion that night:
These five seconds will forever be emblazoned in my heart, mind, and soul. This is the best moment of my life…My life has changed for the better so much during these past several months, but it pales in comparison to how much this moment of receiving my first Eucharist permanently transformed me…I will never be the same again and I thank God for this undeniable fact. I am so in love with you, Jesus. Never allow me to move even one inch from your most Sacred Heart.
Needless to say, Bree’s life looks much different now than it did only a couple years ago. She regularly posts online about her faith and spends her time making beautiful religious art to sell. She has inspired countless people to turn away from consuming adult content and has helped others walk away from being part of the industry, too! Praise be to Jesus!
I am so moved by Bree’s story because it shows us the way the Father works in our hearts. He never stops, even when we don’t recognize Him at work. Even in the depths of her pain, God the Father was never far from Bree. He knew His plans for her and helped her return to Him when the time was right. After so many years away from God, His grace opened her heart to bring her back to His embrace in the Church. Bree experienced firsthand the glory of the true bread that comes from the Father.
Jesus speaks to each of our hearts this Sunday. Where so many of our hearts are easily distracted by the limited goods of this world, Jesus shakes each of us by the shoulders and says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Before talking about Himself as the Bread of Life, Jesus reminds each of us that God the Father has given us the profound gift of faith which opens up our hearts to recognize and receive Jesus as He gives Himself to us. The true bread from Heaven that the Father gives is that living faith burning in our hearts which enables us to approach this altar today, to hear the words, “The Body of Christ, the Blood of Christ,” and respond, not just with our words, but with our hearts and whole being to say, “Amen!” Amen, Lord, You are fully here with me, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! Amen, Lord, you will never abandon me! Amen, Lord, you are the Bread of Life who satisfies my deepest need for love! Amen, Lord, I believe You and take You at your word: “whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Brothers and sisters, it is so easy to be complacent when we have been with Jesus for many years. It is so easy to take for granted this awesome Gift we have in the Eucharist. It is so easy for our hearts to be dulled to the living faith which allows us to receive Him worthily and live in Him. But let’s take a lesson from Bree and from all of those who have been given the faith to see clearly this Miracle of miracles that Jesus performs for us at every Mass. He doesn’t just want to fill up our bellies, which will hunger again in a matter of hours. He wants to fill us up with Himself, so that from our depths we can rest in union with the One who made us for Himself. He wants to feed us with the Food of Himself to spur us on our journey to the Promised Land of Heaven, as He fed the Hebrews with miraculous bread long ago on their journey to the promised land of Israel.
How often we are tempted to receive Jesus mindlessly, to be so distracted by other things that we forget the One who is Everything! Let us open the eyes of our hearts once again, or maybe for the very first time, to see Him clearly at this Mass! Brothers and sisters, the Risen Lord, the Word through Whom all things were made, the King of the Universe, is alive and well and wants to join Himself with you at this Mass! Will you open your heart to the faith the Father wants to stir up in you right now? Cooperate with that faith and see what amazing things He will do as you receive Jesus Himself today!
+ Father, thank you for the true bread of faith which helps our hearts welcome Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus, thank you for giving us yourself in the Eucharist. Help our hearts rest in You. Holy Spirit, help us recognize our Heavenly Bridegroom hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Eucharist Lord. Amen. +