This is a meditation preached on July 9, 2025 at Kintore College in Toronto, after having spent almost a month in Germany. First reading is from Genesis 41. Our dramatic story of the terrible famine in Egypt. The origin of the phrase, go to Joseph . Joseph of the Old Testament had been mistreated and even hated by his brothers, now they come to him for help. It is a deeply emotional moment for Joseph, as he recognizes his brothers, those whom he had grown up with, and who had been so jealous of ...
Jul 09, 2025•30 min
A meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, June 7 2025. There is this incredible line in St. Paul in which he speaks of having the same sentiments that Christ Jesus had (cf. Phil 2:5). “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance...
Jun 07, 2025•29 min
Mary was there at Pentecost, she was at the centre in the early community, so she plays her role in our life too. The Holy Spirit is like the active principle in our sanctification. Mary is called the spouse of the Holy Spirit: It was to her that the Holy Spirit went. Johnny Nash sang that hit tune in 1972: I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It's gonna be a bright, bright sun shiny day He speaks about the pain is go...
Jun 05, 2025•26 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto on May 28, 2025. Jn 16, 12-15: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. Music: Creg Riley Westarmusic. Suspended In Amber WSR596 Unanswered-Prayer_FULL_WSR5964...
Jun 01, 2025•27 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College on May 18, 2025. Upon entering the oratory, I notice the holy water font had a large artistically inscribed text just over the font itself, you can see it in large letters just as you dip your finger into the water: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean (Matt 8, 3). These are the beautiful words of a leper, who on his own initiative, elbowed his way through the crowd, he came up to Jesus and made...
May 25, 2025•28 min
A funeral homily for Mr. Peter Rebello at the church of St. Clement in Toronto on May 20, 2025. Peter died from Leukemia on May 13, the feast of our Lady of Fatima. He was 77. Music: Be not afraid by Bob Dufford with choir.org
May 21, 2025•21 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on May 18, 2025, at Lyncroft Center in Toronto. The Lord took care to leave a deep impression on the disciples, the apostles, when he gave them the mandatum novum. (John 13) It was like a special legacy that he wanted to leave behind. They remembered the words, his tone, but they especially remembered his gestures of tenderness and the warm tone of his voice when he knelt in front of them and washed their feet. They never forgot that night. It stayed imp...
May 19, 2025•29 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on a day of recollection in Ernescliff College on May 11, 2025. I saw photos of Pope Leo XIV visiting Santa Maria Maggiore, praying in front of the Icon of Our Lady, Mother of God. She is showing us the child. She is showing us her son during the month of May when we have recourse to her. We can ask him to stir up the fire of our faith. Put little twigs and branches into the fire. The best twigs to get that faith raging is the devotion to our mother, as ...
May 17, 2025•29 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lancemore Centre in Toronto on May 11, 2025. We all must grow in fraternity. If the centres is like a garden, all the flowers need light, all need water. There is always somebody caring for the cleanliness, showing interest in people coming. Let us examine how we cultivate this special atmosphere around us. Music: Regi Stone, All Heavens Declares. Straight Arrow records, 2003.
May 13, 2025•24 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on April 27, 2025 at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto. John 20, 21-23: After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive,they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ He had to breathe on them to give them that power. The breath of the Holy Spirit, like a sweet aroma that touched them, that they breathed in, and somehow stayed in them as a supernatural power. Music: Original tra...
Apr 27, 2025•31 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at St. Aidan's parish in Toronto, on April 22, 2025. The nature of the Easter Octave is that it be filled with joy. This year it is mingled with a sorrow, and upheaval in which we feel orphaned, but also weighed down by the urgency of the moment. The Church really needs a shepherd. It needs its vicar. We are forlorn. Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via? Tell us, Mary: say what thou didst see upon the way. A big concern had been who would remove the ston...
Apr 22, 2025•28 min
The joy of Easter Monday, is mingled now with the sorrow from the news of the death of Pope Francis. He has been called back to the Father. A man who gave himself totally to the service of the Church. It happens at the end of the UNIV congress in Rome, and when the Ordinary General Congress of Opus Dei begins. We will offer the Mass for the repose of his soul. This meditation was preached on April 21, 2025 at Lyncroft centre in Toronto, minutes after hearing about the death of Pope Francis. Musi...
Apr 21, 2025•29 min
A meditation preached at Kintore College on April 15, 2025, Holy Wednesday. Matt 26, 25: One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him. Such painful words, at an agonizing time for our Lord. He was chosen as one of the apostles. One for who he had dreams. The most painful realities are not physica...
Apr 17, 2025•31 min
A meditation was preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on March 30, 2025. The story of the Prodigal Son is a story of conversion, an account of the role that bonds have in our life, and how we must be more aware of them, and strengthen them. Music: Regi Stone "How Can I tell You", Experience Music 2002, released 2015. Thumbnail: Pompeo Batoni prodigal son (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Mar 30, 2025•30 min
A meditation preached in Ernescliff College, Toronto, on March 28, 2025. Its been 100 years since that day in which a young 23-year Josemaria Escriva was ordained to the priesthood in the Basilica of Our Lady of El Pilar in Zaragoza, Miguel de los Santos. There are things that we invite into our soul that leave us with a permanent imprint , a mark, an impression, like a long-lasting, expensive perfume that can become attractive to those around us. This is the story of the expansive grace of a ma...
Mar 29, 2025•31 min
Today is a solemnity, in which the exclusive focus is this intimate dialogue between a celestial creature, and the holiest woman ever created. Imagine the angel, see her bow in reverence, we hear her response, we image her fear, we sense concern, her slight confusion about her becoming mother, the reassuring response of the angel, his promise that ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And so the child will be holy and will be...
Mar 25, 2025•24 min
Preached on March 21, 2025 at Kintore college in Toronto. What is the nature of penance and mortification during lent? This is the most important of penance:To prepare the way so that Christ might actually live in us. Augustine would say: A vessel must be empty if it is to be filled, and if we are to be filled with the life of God we must be utterly empty of self. Music: Original track by Michael Lee of Toronto. Thumbnail: Duccio, The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain, 1308-11, Frick Collecti...
Mar 24, 2025•32 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto, on March 19, 2025. Joseph was in a state of emotional upheaval, until God told him in a dream what was happening with Mary. He knew what he had to do. He did not turn around in circles. Joseph’s response was immediate: “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Mt 1:24). Obedience made it possible for him to surmount his difficulties and spare Mary. The imagination has been called "The Craz...
Mar 19, 2025•29 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to university students at Ernescliff College in Toronto on March 11, 2025. Matt 5, 20: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. He speaks of virtue that is not deep. Only surface depth. Merely appearance. Its a real challenge that the Lord offered us. He wants something deeper, a more authentic line from you and me. Music: Original track of Michael L...
Mar 15, 2025•30 min
A meditation preached at Ernescliff College by Fr. Eric Nicolai on Sunday March 9, 2025. Luke 4, 1: Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. We picture now led by the spirit, docile and at one with God’s plan. He is not resisting. As man, as the word incarnate, he is fulfilling his purpose, that now starts within moment of human detachment. Why does Jesus go to the desert? Why did he need...
Mar 09, 2025•28 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on March 1, 2025. Convertímini ad me in toto corde vestro, in ieiunio et fletu, et in planctu, dicit Dóminus. Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, says the Lord.
Mar 05, 2025•27 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on March 1, 2025. The ancient hymn that I have heard you sing so beautifully right here is the Anima Christi , the soul of Christ. O bone Jesu, exaudi me. Intra tua vulnera absconde me. Ne permittas me separari a te. O good Jesus, hear me. Within your wounds conceal me. Do not permit me to be parted from you. The wounds of Christ , a sign of the intensity of His love for us. They would not heal if he had not risen. What do t...
Mar 05, 2025•28 min
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft centre in Toronto on February 23, 2025. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (Lk 6, 27) They are jarring words, fighting words, discordant for our secularized society, but nevertheless, true and authentic divine words that seem to ask so much of us. They have been handed down to us over the centuries so that they be like ...
Mar 02, 2025•29 min
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 longing for something greater. Beauty and truth are intrinsically linked. The absence of one can lea...
Feb 23, 2025•30 min
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 location in the cosmos. Music: 'Moonlight' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com T...
Feb 17, 2025•24 min
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 relaxing music Into The Woods Thumbnail: Simon Marmion, The Mass of St. Gregory, 1460, Art Gallery of O...
Feb 07, 2025•29 min
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 Mosaic Law. It is his mission. He is presented, offered, given over, and his parents do so with faith, kn...
Feb 02, 2025•28 min
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 Thumbnail: Simone Barabino, The Death of Saint Joseph, Philbrook Museum of Art, 1620....
Jan 28, 2025•28 min
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. There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations (Conversations, 114)...
Jan 27, 2025•27 min
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 the Gospel of John, at the marriage at Cana (John 2:1– 12), and say to yourselves: The best wine has ...
Jan 19, 2025•29 min
