In Your Presence

The introductory meditation at a retreat for priests on November 2, 2026, at Cedarcrest Conference Centre in Belfountain, Ontario, north of Toronto. Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai. Luke 12, 31-21: from the words of the rich man in the Gospel: We too are here to build bigger barns. Dream of the barns that we are as priests, as ministers of God, and give thanks, but also of the bigger barns that the L...

A meditation preached at Ellerton Centre, Toronto, on November 1, 2026, on the solemnity of All Saints. In Genesis 28 we read of the dream of Jacon in Bethel, where he sees a stairway of angels ascending and descending. Today, as we celebrate all saints, we have to behold that stairway to heaven. At its head stands Christ, beckoning us to follow. On the steps are his saints, inspiring us to take t...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on October 29, 2026 at Kintore College, Toronto. Luke 14:1-6: "Now on a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely." Even at table, we are called to be itinerant contemplatives, and apostles. Thumbnail: The End of Dinner, by Jules Alexandre Grün, Oil on canvas, 1911. © Musée de...

A meditation preached on October 22, 2026, at Cedarcrest Conference Centre, north of Toronto. A reflection on the vesting prayers of the priest, as a prelude to awakening in us the wonders and the hidden love of Jesus in the Mass. Music: Audiio_MULVEY_Awakening_Awakening_Instrumental

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai peached this meditation at a workshop on October 20, 2026, at Cedarcrest Conference in Belfountain, On. A few weeks ago the starting gun was fired for the 3-year preparation for the centennial. In his letter from October 2 2026, the Father used that phrase: "It is not a new beginning, but a new impulse toward fidelity.”  Music: The light between us by...

A meditation preached on October 4, 2026, by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Center in Toronto. As we begin these years of preparation for the centennial, we know that we have to continue to grow and mature in this initial yes that we gave to God. The yes of our vocation. We said yes to the invitation to of the Lord, who sent us out. The Prelate has framed in clear terms the purpose of the centennial...

This meditation was preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 6, 2026. In 2002, Pope John Paul II pronounced this phrase in St. Peter's Square in front of thousands of faithful: "We declare and define Blessed Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer to be a Saint, and We inscribe his name in the catalogue of the Saints, ordaining that, throughout the universal Church, he be devoutly honore...

A meditation preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 2, 2026. Today is the memorial of the guardian angels. Exodus 23: "The Lord says this: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." Moses guided the people, but did not enter the promised land himself. The Christological interpretation is that Jesus guid...

Our Lord loves the poor: “ Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ” (Matt 11, 4-5) Our Lord includes this among the great wonders: Poverty . How can we live this virtue of detachment as priests? We have the example of the conversion of Z...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on September 16, 2026. The Gospel tells us about the different reactions of the people to John the Baptist and to Jesus. He comments on the lack of coherence present in these responses. The impossibility of getting coherent responses in light of the lives of John and of Jesus. “To what then shall I compare the people of this ge...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to priests at Saint Augustine Seminary in Toronto on September 15, 2026. Today's feast of Our Lady of Sorrows has an ancient and layered liturgical background. It is said to have started with the ancient Franciscan spirituality that meditated on Mary’s sorrows. We know that St. Francis himself suffered the stigmata, reflecting his closeness to Mary, wh...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on September 14, 2026, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Yesterday we decorated with flowers the simple black cross in our oratories so that we could see it bloom today. The hymn of Philippians 2, 6-11: "...he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to High School boys at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on September 12, 2026. Last week we celebrated the birth of Mary, the dawn of our salvation. She is the stella matutina, the morning star. It is a time of hope, for the Sun of Justice is about to rise; today, 8 days later, the name of Mary, in line with the practice of the Jews who would impose the name o...

A meditation preached at Ernescliff College in Toronto on September 8th, 2026, by Fr. Eric Nicolai. Today is the birthday of Mary, she is described as the “dawn of our salvation”. The arrival of a new person into the world is always a sign of hope . Mary opens up new possibilities for us in this academic year, just beginning. Thumbnail: The Nativity of the Virgin , painted around 1400–1405 by Andr...

This meditation was preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on September 5th, 2026, at Ellerton Centre in Toronto. ‘He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed’ (Lk 5:16) What did it look like to see the Lord withdraw into the wilderness? It was described as wilderness, a wild place because it was hostile to man’s control; there were no houses or comforts there. But it was a time of silent unity with God the Fa...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on September 1, 2026, at the start of the new Academic year at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto. Picture Jesus now coming forward: “And there was handed to him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written…" Then with a sure voice: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 30, 2026. Jeremiah is in utter anguish. He feels that he has failed. He’s in doubt. Maybe he has no vocation after all. He's in an inner crisis. Despite all the suffering he has experienced, he manages to complain to God and abandon himself to his healing. Jeremiah 20, 7-9: Sedux...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on August 17, 2026 at Parkhill Centre in Ottawa. Prayer in our life is an essential part of our existence of sons of God. It gives our resilience, and our purpose going. It is like the engine room of our interior life. In the Gospel, we have the Pharisees complaining about the company that Jesus kept. This prompted Jesus to reaffirm the truth of God’s merc...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Camp Caribou near Barry's Bay, Ontario, on August 25th, 2026. Today, the Gospel speaks about the distaste that Jesus had for those who relied on appearances, on image, on looking good to others. Those who spent time cultivating a public image. It is a rather blistering accusation. Matt 23, 24-26: Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!...

A meditation on the feast of St. Bartholomew, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College on August 24, 2026. He preached in India and Armenia. For Bartholomew: “he shed his skin”: both in martyrdom and spiritual transformation, putting off the “old self” so that the new person may emerge. Thumbnail: detail from Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, 1536. Marco d’Agrate’s...

In 1975, Pope Paul VI told Blessed Alvaro del Portillo: " Collect everything that the Founder has written, because it is already a treasure belonging to the whole Church .”

Maximilian Kolbe had a vision of our Lady who offered him two crowns: a white one for virginity, a red one for martyrdom. Which do you want? I’ll take both. that Mary is and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way. 
(Assumption preface) Thumbnail: Esteban Márquez de Velasco (1652–1696) , Dormition of the virgin Mary, Art Gallery of Ontario.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. Matt 14, 22-36: Jesus walks on the water, and calls out to Peter: Come! Water in the ancient world was always seen as a place of instability. It was a scary place when you had these rickety boats. But Jesus informs everything we do. It is our life of faith. Our faith must inform our vision, the way we think,...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. John 6:1-15 tells of the account of the feeding of the 5 thousand. Lots of people. A real problem. A multitude had followed him. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him He looked up with mercy, with compassion. In front of the problem, the numbers, the money, the few pieces o...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellentor Centre in Toronto, July 31, 2026. " Don't forget that sometimes it is necessary to have smiling faces . " (The Way, 657)