In Your Presence

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 the Church became more and more aware of what it means to say she was full of grace, the holiness of the mother of God.The realization that she was redeemed in a unique way, right from the moment of her conception.Music: Regi Stone, All Heaven Declares, YouTube music

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 could not have gotten there on their own. They needed friends or family to get around, or to help them understand what Jesus was saying. All this moved the heart of Jesus. He was moved by the suffering, he saw people hindered by their limitations and their pain, but I think he saw beyond that, he was also touched by the generous solidarity of people around them. People helping them to get their food, to protect them, guide them, and encourage them. Music: Regi Stone All Heaven Declares from Catholic Music Youtube channelImage: Jean-Francois Tissot, Life of Christ, 1890s.

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. This is what the life of Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was like. What an example of zeal and apostolate. Music: Regi Stone, All Heaven Declares, from Catholic Music Youtube channel

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 Jews. In Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum…  Different characters and languages that suggested his own universal kingship in the universal church. Latin was the languages of the conquerors, Greek was more universal, like English today, and Hebrew, the local dialect. Music: Regi Stone All Heaven Declares from Catholic Music Youtube channel Thumbnail: Diego Velazquez, Crucifixion, 1632, Prado Museum, Madrid.