Matt 22, 34-40: ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’ We cannot give the Lord the scraps. Just barely give him what we can conjure up. No, all our might is how we hone into the strengths ...
Aug 20, 2022•29 min
But we cannot really experience the mercy of God without true conversion. We see this in the beautiful account of the father with two sons in Luke 15. There was the younger one who left in an escapade of sensuality, and then there was the older brooding one who stayed behind in his own resentment. Are we the younger one or the older one? A virtue that brings us together is hospitality. Heb 13, 2: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ...
Aug 18, 2022•30 min
In Revelation 12: The woman flees into the desert, where she is miraculously fed (an allusion to the manna of the Exodus). It is added that the woman is given "the two wings of the great eagle" like the people of the Exodus (Ex 19, 4). The belief in the Assumption is ancient. But Pope Pius XII wanted to make it more clear. On the 1st May 1946 Pope Pius XII decided to send a letter to all the bishops of the world regarding the proposal to definitively define the dogma of the Assumption of the Vir...
Aug 15, 2022•31 min
From the Gospel of Sunday 20th Week in Ordinary Time: Ignem veni mittere in terra, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! (Lk 12:49.) Like Moses standing before the bringing bush, let us now take off our shoes, our sandals, because we are on holy ground, we are close to the love of God. In this oratory, we are used to coming in here, and we may forget that it is a truly holy place. In the Bible, fire is often used to describe ...
Aug 14, 2022•29 min
Today, August 9, is the 80th anniversary of the death of St. Edith Stein, killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz along with thousands if other Jews. She was a profound and an intense woman. Just look at her photo as a Carmelite, with those penetrating eyes. It is said she was always an over-achiever. Born in Germany in 1891, she studied under Edmund Husserl, and converted to Catholicism, and eventually known by her religious name, St. Teresa Benedicta of the cross. How beautifully she embraced ...
Aug 09, 2022•30 min
One of those central untouched aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei turns around friendship: our surrounded by friends, how we deepen in them, experience them, encourage our friends, get help from them. The Beatles used to say I Get By with A little Help from my Friends . It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, released on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. How painful that must have been when some disciples stopped going with him, after the discourse of the bread ...
Aug 05, 2022•31 min
Jeremiah 26, 11-16: First reading is from a sermon by the prophet Jeremiah in the temple. He’s warning them that the temple will be destroyed. So there is this confrontation between Jeremiah and the authorities of Judah. He declares his innocence like Christ and is eventually saved by the intervention of the king. In the Gospel of the day we have the account of the death of John the Baptist (Matt 14, 1-12). Now Herod is in his own party, so he is in his own element. The wine is flowing. He has n...
Jul 30, 2022•31 min
Matthew 12:46-50: While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” ...
Jul 19, 2022•27 min
Pope Francis, in referring to the saints, gives us this answer: God chooses certain people so that we might see more clearly the reality of sanctity, so that we might see that it is He who sanctifies . . . This is the first rule of sanctity: Christ must increase and we must decrease (Homily, 9 May 2014). In Todays Gospel, from Luke 10:38-42, Jesus tells Martha: "Por unum est necessarium". One thing is necessary. What is that necessary thing in my life? We must search for sanctity like Dorothy in...
Jul 17, 2022•29 min
Gospel from the fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary time (c): Luke 10:25-37: There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you ...
Jul 16, 2022•28 min
In her book " Maybe You Should talk to someone" (2019), Lori Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives. We too are like patients, with all these inner chambers. These are chambers that we must prepare to open up, so that we can be helped to see how all the machinery is working. Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre on July 6, 2022. Music: Andrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017) For more meditations, check my channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/vi...
Jul 07, 2022•28 min
One of the most inspiring, and hopeful passages in St. Paul is in his letter to Timothy, where he gives him pastoral instruction in dealing with the people of God. 1 Tim 2, 4: God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is our dream. To be illuminated by the truth itself. St. Josemaria Escriva said in Furrow 221: Be sure of this: you need to be fully formed to face the rush of people that is going to press upon us with a specific and urgent question: “Well then,...
Jul 02, 2022•25 min
Matthew 9:1-8: Jesus got in the boat, crossed the water and came to his own town. Then some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ Do I trust in God's forgiveness of my sin? What really is sin? Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches to some campers at Chipnee camp, at Port Burwell, Ontario, on June 30, 2022. Music: Handel’s Rinaldo opera, aria, “Lascia ch’io pianga”, arranged for guitar by...
Jun 30, 2022•29 min
Acts 12:1-11: tells us about Herod who had James executed by the sword. Since this was pleasing to the Jews, he thought he would go after Peter too. You can imagine the hostility in the air when you execute someone and it makes them happy. Though Paul and Peter had some differences, their unity is symbolized by the famous kiss of peace, where they embrace on their way to their martyrdom. Preached in Ernescliff College on June 29, 2022. Music: Faith of Our Fathers | Fountainview Academy | The Gre...
Jun 29, 2022•28 min
The opening prayer for today’s feast has to squeeze the spirit of Saint Josemaria and all his dreams into one simple and brief Collect. It is hard to reduce something you love and have dedicated yourself to just a few words. But this collect is like the directors cut, approved and vetted by our holy mother the church. "O God, who raised up your priest Saint Josemaría in the Church to proclaim the universal call to holiness and the apostolate, grant that by his intercession and example we may, th...
Jun 26, 2022•33 min
St. Josemaria would be moved deeply when he said with faith that part of the Creed, that produced a pause, when he prayed: Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam! I believe in one Holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. — I can understand why you pause to relish your prayer: I believe in the Church, one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.. (The Way 517) It is as though he wanted to savour something to taste its beauty. Savour it, like a good wine. To re-acknowledge the mystery, which he w...
Jun 22, 2022•30 min
With his encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia," Pope John Paul II intended to reawaken "Eucharistic wonder" in the Church. "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfillment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread an...
Jun 18, 2022•32 min
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. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is di...
Jun 17, 2022•29 min
Matt 5, 43: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. We make friends by loving them. The answer to our loving others is almost always a deep and abiding friendship. No matter who they are, or what they believe...
Jun 15, 2022•30 min
Matthew 5: But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. The Lord is suggesting something to us abou...
Jun 11, 2022•31 min
Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and when He sat down his disciples came to him. And He opened his mouth and taught them (Matt 5:1-2). And the Beatitudes begin. Matthew 5:13-16: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to ...
Jun 08, 2022•31 min
John 20, 19-23: Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This breathing of Jesus recalls God's action who, in...
Jun 05, 2022•28 min
Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” (Lk 22) "Do this inn remembrance of me," as a memorial of me. Thus Christ directed the apostles (and successors) to celebrate a new “memorial" that would replace the one celebrated in the Jewish Passover. This memorial rite has a special efficacy: it not only helps the community of believers to “remember" Christ's redeeming love, his words and gestures during the Last Supper, but also, as a sacrament of the...
Jun 04, 2022•28 min
Lk 24, 46-53: The account of the ascension: Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. St John Chrysostom says. “The cloud was a sure sign that Jesus had already entered heaven; it was not a whirlwind or a chariot of fire, as in the case of the prophet Elijah (cf. 2 King...
May 31, 2022•28 min
Acts 1,3: Tells us about those absolutely luminous days that our Lord spent with the disciples. He was teaching, they were learning everything they needed to know for their mission. He was entrusting them. He was opening their horizons. With Jesus there are no improvisations. Success comes from careful planning, and then rigorous and constant execution. They were being prepared for Pentecost.
May 28, 2022•17 min
The Lord said: "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you shall know him because he will dwell with you, and be in you" (Jn 14: 16-17). Think how great the HS must be for Christ to utter these words: "It is to your advantage that I go away…" (Jn 16,7) Picture the invisible Holy Spirit active in your soul now. Are you aware of him acting in your mind? ...
May 28, 2022•29 min
John 14: Jesus said to his disciples: "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words." Yes, you are a living house, a home for God. But you should allow Him to do what He pleases to shape you into the person you need to be. This is applied to how faithfully we live our vocation. A meditation preached on Sunday May 22, 2022 in Lyncroft Centre, Toronto. Music: Andrian Berengue...
May 22, 2022•30 min
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1809: Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. Fr. Eric Nicolai speaks about how we can live this virtue. Music: Handel, Opera Rinaldo, Aria "Lascia ch'io pianga", arranged for guitar by Bert Alink. Thumbnail: Cardinal virtues painting in Holy Rosary Parish, Toronto....
May 19, 2022•30 min
In the Church of Jerusalem two men were proposed to the community, and then lots were cast for their names: "Joseph called Barsabbas , who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias" (Acts 1: 23). Precisely the latter was chosen, hence, "he was enrolled with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1: 26). The apostles understood firstly that they absolutely needed to be 12, in line with the 12 tribes of Israel. To have been chosen by lot means he was not chosen for his qualities, that he could maybe have vented about...
May 14, 2022•28 min
Today, May 12, is the feast of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo (1914-1994). He was the first successor of Saint Josemaria Escriva. He was an engineer who became a priest and worked closely with Saint Josemaria Escriva until his death in 1975. His life was imbued with that "charism of normality" which characterizes all those humble people who reach the summit of perfection without doing anything out of the ordinary. Fr. Eric Nicolai preached in Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on May 12, 2022. Music: Hand...
May 12, 2022•29 min
