In Your Presence

Matt 6, 19-23: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal.(...)‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. Why won’t material goods, recognition, prosperity, even fame satisfy? Because we were made for God. Our heart...

The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the most perfect reflection of the love and purity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus . Yesterday was the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, a long standing devotion in the church that has taken on different forms. It started in that moment when John testified to what he saw, as Jesus’ side was violently pierced by a sword: look upon him whom they have pierced. Preached June...

A meditation inspired by the pastoral letter by Thomas Cardinal Collins, archbishop of Toronto, entitled Heart Speaks to Heart. In the midst of the pandemic, and all the suffering that it supposes he is opening his heart about the love that will keep us afloat, and that is still capable of transforming us, despite all the devastation: it is the power of the Sacred heart. Preached by Fr. Eric Nicol...

Lk 1, 39-41:  Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. Why did Mary go with such haste? What was her purpose in this trip? She teaches us quite a lot about the spirit of service we must have with those around us. Know how to serve as they would need to be served. This is from a meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College on May 31, 2...

We have just finished the Easter season, ending it with the solemnity of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit comes ands fires up the apostles in the cenacle. Before they were afraid and doubtful, now they are on fire and ready to undertake the mission. It is what we call "the time of the church". Which is why we are now in the season called “Ordinary Time”. Not ordinary in the sense of boring, or unap...

We’ve often heard that phrase of our Father: “God he takes a risk with our freedom.” What does this mean? Josemaria Escriva: God wants us to cooperate with him in this task which he is carrying out in the world. He takes a risk with our freedom. I am deeply moved by the Jesus born in Bethlehem: a defenceless, powerless child, incapable of offering any resistance. God gives himself up to men; he co...

With this global marathon of prayer during May, in union with Pope Francis, we ask our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, for an end to the pandemic.  Josemaria Escriva would say we are under the mantle of our Lady.  She is also spouse of the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches during the monthly recollection during the month of May. Music: Claude Debussy, Reverie....

In 1944, Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri (1916-1975) attended Mass in Madrid and had an experience of the closeness of God. With time, she came to know Saint Josemaria Escriva, and ended up dedicating her life in Opus Dei as a numerary. She served Madrid, Mexico, and Rome. She was cheerful and always full of enthusiasm for love of God. Fr. Eric Nicolai gives an account of how this happened in her lif...

May 12 is the memorial of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo (1914-1994), who was the Prelate of Opus Dei and first successor of Saint Josemaria. He was beatified by Pope Francis on September 27, 2014. The prayer card for his intercession reads: O God, merciful Father, you granted your bishop Blessed Alvaro, the grace of being, with our Lady's help, an exemplary pastor in the service of the Church and a m...

Since Pentecost is coming up on May 23, we wanted to prepare for that marvellous solemnity by understanding how grace acts in our soul. Grace is the life of God in humans : it is the life of God (one and three) and therefore must be considered as essentially “un-created” in character, as something that is divine in origin and divinizing in effect . It is not some kind of liquid substance that seep...

Lk 24, 35-48: The disciples on the road to Emmaus had realized that their hearts were burning within them. It was afire of longing to be with the master, to stay with him. Mane nobiscum Domine , was the prayer that expressed that inner fire. But in that moment of agitation, he comes among them and says peace be with you. Shalom. A common Jewish expression. But here it has the sense of salvation. W...

In the discourse on the bread of life (John 6), some of the disciples are scandalized by the words of Jesus, and no longer go with him. "Will you also go away", he asks the apostles? Peter says: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." During hard times we realize we have made a commitment, and we must keep our word. Stay faithful, no matter what. Fidelity means a readiness...

Saint Josemaria did his first communion April 23, 1912, at the age of 10. By a decree issued in 1910 by Pope Saint Pius X, the age requirement was lowered to when the use of reason is acquired, "which is at about the age of seven.” He was well prepared. He learned the prayer of spiritual communion , which did not keep to himself, but transmitted to thousands of others.  The spiritual communio...

Today Pope Benedict XVI turns 94. He was baptized on the very day that he was born. Re-born in the Holy Spirit. He affirmed in 2012 that he could say that life is good: "It becomes a true gift only if, along with it, we are given a promise that is stronger than any evil that could threaten us, if it is immersed in a power that ensures that it is good to be human, that there will be good for this p...

In this meditation, Fr. Eric Nicolai speaks about the account of Christ washing the disciples feet, in which John says he loved them to the end (Jn 13:1).  What does this mean? What do we mean by unconditional love? Do I really love even if I’ve lost feelings? Preached on April 9, 2021. #opusdei www.ernescliff.ca www.opusdei.ca https://www.lyncroft.ca Thumbnail: Jacopo Tintoretto. Christ Wash...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches Easter Sunday at Lyncroft Centre.  Yesterday we talked about the dark, materialistic dialectic of poets like Bertold Brecht and philosophers like Nietzsche, who said God is dead. We killed him. Very dire and sad visions. But now we have come out of that dark night. Against this background I think we can hear the message of Easter in a new way. Christ is risen! There...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches a meditation at Lyncroft hospitality centre in Toronto. It is Holy Thursday, so he touches on the three great mysteries commemorated today: The priesthood, the Holy Eucharist, and the Commandment of Love. Music: J.S. Bach, "Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229. Thumbnail: Albrecht Durer, Engraving of the washing of the feet, 1510. Detroit Institute of Arts Museum. https://www.dia.or...

A meditation at Kintore College, Toronto by Fr. Eric Nicolai on March 29, 2021. St. John the Evangelist gives us the account of Jesus' arrival at Bethany with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. He felt at home. Mary took this alabaster jar and broke it open. She did not carefully pry open the vessel, and simply offer a few drops. She was not stingy. She did not hold back. She did not keep any for herse...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Lyncroft centre. This is March 28, and coincides with the anniversary of the priestly ordination of Saint Josemaria Escriva in 1925. He recounts the symbols used today, Palm Sunday, and makes references to the moments leading up to Josemaria’s ordination. Thumbnail: The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (1842-1845). Located in the church of S...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches on the eve of Palm Sunday (March 27, 2021), inviting us to be enamoured with the figure of Christ and to meditate his passion and death this week. It can help us be men and women of real integrity. Music: J.S. Bach, "Komm, Jesu, komm", BWV 229. https://musopen.org Thumbnail: Bartolomé Murillo, Ecce homo, (17th century) private collection, Sothebys.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Lyncroft centre on the eve of the fifth Sunday of Lent, and invites us along the lenten pathway, interiorizing the mystery of the cross. It can help us to grow in penance and mortification. Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017)

Meditation in Ernescliff College by Fr. Eric Nicolai, priest of Opus Dei, March 13, 2021/ There are punishments in the Bible, like the flood, the plagues, and they always have a pedagogical purpose. Like the serpents that bit people in the dessert, God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent so that people could gaze on it and be cured. So the son of man would be lifted up on the earth, s that we w...

On March 13, 2013, Pope Francis was elected as the 266th successor of St. Peter, not so he could shine, and outdo everyone, but so that he could serve as Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, vicar of Christ, servant of the servants of God. What a responsibility. He is the visible foundation and source of unity, and as pastor of the entire Catholic Church. Cardinal Tagle, Archbi...

On March 6, 2021, Pope Francis had an inter-religious ceremony with leaders of Jews, Muslims, and representatives of other religions at Ur , the birthplace of Abraham, the common father of these religions. He is on a small stage, blown in the dry winds, surrounded by a stark desert where Abraham came from. They’ve laid out a wide red carpet in the audience. Everyone is separated. There is a small...

When we hear the words of Jesus who says Blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5). in Latin as beati pauperes spiritu. Joseph was poor, but he was not among the poorest of society of the time. He was not among the totally abandoned, bedraggled, homeless, that lived from hand to mouth. These would have been in the lowest class of society. The Lord gave them hop...