In Your Presence

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Cedarcrest Centre on February 14, 2025. This is a new audio, the last was the wrong file uploaded by mistake Mother of Fair Love. Learning how to love with the help of Our Lady. It is not in the Litany. Mater Pulchrae Dilectionis , Mother of Fairest Love. Beautiful love. Beauty is a wounding experience that moves us beyond our mundane lives, creating a...

A meditation about heaven, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai during a retreat at Cedarcrest Conference Centre in Belfountain, Ontario, on February 15, 2025. Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that heaven is not an abstract concept or imaginary place, but the true reality of God's presence. He said heaven is not a departure from the world but a "new mode of presence to the world. Its not a physical l...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on December 31, 2024 at Shelbourne Conference centre in Valparaiso, IN. The story of St. Gregory the Great (590 to 604) having a vision of Christ during his Mass. Christ is surrounded by all the instruments of the passion. It became a devotional piece to meditate on the cross, to look upon it, and dicern its layers of meaning in our life. Music: Helios rel...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to High School students in Beamsville, Ontario ,on February 2, 2025. Today is the feast of the presentation. It is a feast of pour Lady, but really focused on Our Lord who is being presented by his parents in the temple. It was the law of Israel that each first born should be presented to the Lord, 40 days after his birth. They are complying with the Mosai...

Matt 25 Tells about the stewards and their talents. Some five talents, others two. But the guy with one talent hid it, buried it, and gave it back.  Like he wanted a refund. He did t open the package. It was still wrapped in plastic. Still with the bubble wrap.  What good is a talent that is buried in the ground? What will I do with it when I die? Music: Original music by Michael Lee from Toronto...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Hawthorn School in Toronto, on January 23, 2025. There is one line by St. Josemaria that might encapsulate a mystery, and a mission. A fundamental truth that is both very clear, yet very mysterious. Both exciting and scary. Something that applies to all of us and is clear as the day, but is interpreted as not really applying to us, but just to a few. Th...

This meditation was preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on at Lyncroft centre in Toronto, January 19, 2025. You may have heard that Pope Francis has published his autobiography , published by Penguin Canada, now that he is an old man, and his pontificate has lasted longer than anyone expected. Here is what he tells his readers: “If one day you are overcome by fears and worries, think of that episode in t...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on January 15, 2025 in Kintore College, Toronto. The Gospel today from Mark 1:29-39, tells us about some of the sick that Jesus healed, and the demons that he expelled. We see this at the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Redemption. It is a year of hope, as described by the Bull of Indiction, Spes non confudit, established by Pope Francis. Music: Regi Ston...

This is the last meditation of a retreat preached at Shellbourne Conference Centre in Valparaiso, IN, on December 31, 2024. Mark 6 : When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “...

A meditation preached at Shellbourne Conference Centre in Valparaiso, Indiana, during a retreat on December 27, 2024. Gen 2, 15  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat...

With all the Christmas cards we’ve received, and the emails, and our own nativity scene, it is easy for us to imagine what happened that evening, and to see the warm glow of the child giving off divine light, he is the light of the world, amidst that dark and damp and musty place for animals. Mary and Joseph are warmed by the glow too. Yet there is a tinge of reproach in John's description. John s...

A meditation preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on December 20, 2024. With the scene of the annunciation to Mary, redemption has begun. But the last thing the angel mentioned was meant to show that the incarnation takes place within the larger context of the family, Mary’s family, but also Elizabeth's family. God decided that Elizabeth should bear a son. Mary would participate in this, to give...

Preached on Gaudete Sunday at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto, December 15, 2024. Phil 4, 4: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near . There are the surface aspects of our life, there are the edges. Some days were good, other days not so much. But deep on the river bed there is calm. Music: relaxing-piano-music-248868

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto on December 9, 2024, solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, her preservation from all sin, meant that not even a tiny shadow of darkness existed in her soul. Knowing this was the product of a process.  First the Christian people realized it, then theologians discussed it, and gradually...

Fr. Eric Nicolai peached this meditation on December 4th, 2024 at Kintore College. Today’s Gospel is from St. Matthew St. Matthew 15, 29-37, about the multiplication of loaves and fish. Crowds had followed him. So many people were attracted to him. And Matthew gives a brief description of these people: they were lame, blind, deformed, mute, and many others. These people with all these infirmities...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on December 3, 2024 at Ernescliff College, Toronto. Jesus addresses a word of hope to His disciples: “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Luke 21, 28). During the time of advent, a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord, we may feel a faint whisper of sadness, maybe discomfort. The Lord invites us to stand erect. T...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on November 24, 2024, the solemnity of Christ the King in Lyncroft Centre, Toronto. John 18, 33: ’Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Thinking it would placate Jesus, he had the inscription placed over his head on the cross: Jesus of Nazareth King of the Je...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on November 20, 2024 at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto. J.R. R. Tolkien was chided by his contemporary fantasy writers for saying that the best fantasy has happy endings. For many them, the realism came in the dark, terrifying tales that ended in tragedy. But our faith tells us that death is a doorway to a happy ending, and we can prepare for it now,...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation in Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on November 2, 2024. Saint Josemaria faced a lot of opposition when he started his apostolic endeavours. In the Way he said: "God wants a handful of men 'of his own' in every human activity. And then... 'pax Christi in regno Christi — the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ'. " We have to help him reign really with our a...

After the Solemnity of the Solemnity of All Saints, and the Feast of All Souls, we want to examine ourselves to see if Christ truly reigns in our hearts, if he is there at the core of our being. This meditation was preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on November 2, 2024. Music: Regi Stone, All Heaven Declares, from Catholic Music Youtube channel. Thumbnail: A stained-glass window of Jesus weari...

A meditation preached at Lancemore centre in Toronto on November 4, 2024. In 2017, the Prelate of Opus Dei said this: “the current situation of evangelization makes it more necessary than ever to give priority to personal contact with people. This relational aspect is at the heart of the mode of doing apostolate that Saint Josemaria found in the Gospel narratives.” (Pastoral Letter, 14 February 20...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on th Solemnity of All Saints, November 1, 2024. St. John the Apostle tells about his tremendous vision: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were h...

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on October 27 2024. The focus is blind Bartimaeus and the heart of Jesus. Mark 10:46-52: As Jesus left Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of...

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this recollection at Hawthorn School in Toronto on October 23 2024. We are preparing the centennial of Opus Dei, founded on October 2, 1928. It was a shower of grace, that Saint Josemaria received on that day. We must ensure that we maintain the beauty of this charism, to ensure that it never go stale, or lose its vibrancy. Music: Choir of the Roman College of Holy Mary....

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on October 18, 2024 at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto. Luke the Evangelist was born a Greek and a Gentile from Antioch in Syria. Luke is symbolised by the ox, a symbol of strength and of sacrifice. But also Luke wanted to preserve the face of Mary for us. He is the painter of Mary: Tradition says he produced the first devotional icons of the mother of God. He...