In Your Presence

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on March 12 at Kintore College, Toronto.Today’s Gospel from Luke 11:14-23, tells us that Jesus was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke and the people marvelled.Those who opposed him said that he had done this through the power of Belzebul, through the devil. But Jesus easily responds that this would be the devil working against himself, divided against his own interests. Jesus heals because it is a sign of his power; he is able to heal in a way that no human power could. But he heals out of compassion, like when he healed the man born blind. The sacraments are channels of his mercy, of his healing: like annointing, like confession, like the nourishing power of the eucharist.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.Thumbnail: Stainedglass, Meung sur Loire 19th century.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on March 8, 2026 in Ernescliff College, Toronto. It is similar to the previous day's meditation in Lyncroft centre, titled "Begone Satan!".Conversion, like Jesus at the well, is first and foremost an initiative of God. We respond with our freedom. It’s in that most intimate part of ourselves, where the image of God deep within us, needs to be awoken, brought back to life, as though it had remained dormant but now is brought forth into the wild.We have the freedom now to exercise penance through Lent in a way that leads to conversion, and to defeating the toxic presence of the evil one. It’s what Jesus does in the desert (Matt 4), the Land of Mordor, this dark motif that sets the tone for all of Lent. A time of penance that purifies us, that awakens in us an interior struggle, that reminds us that we will never really convert if we just coast along, if we drift through life, if we just go with the current.Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.Thumbnail: The Temptation Of Christ, by Duccio Di Buoninsegna, 1308, Frick Collection

A meditation preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on March 7, 2026. The devil tempts Jesus in the desert. Jesus is impeccable (unable to sin) in virtue of the hypostatic union, yet truly tempted from without in His human nature, in the sense of being really “assaulted” by the devil, not in the sense of interior consent or moral peril.Traditionally, this scene in the desert is a contrast with Adam. New Adam motif: The desert scene is read against Genesis, where Adam fell in a garden amid abundance, Christ triumphs in a wilderness amid hunger and weakness.Thumbnail: The Temptation of Christ by Simon Bening, Flemish, 1550 Getty Museum, Los AngelesMusic: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Luke 16:19-31: Dives and Lazarus.Jesus tells this account of the rich man who feasted and seemed to enjoy life, but was oblivious to the poverty and the suffering of Lazarus, the poor man. It is an account that is full of details that fills us with revulsion, with shock and the callousness of the rich man. We are particularly grieved by his lack of empathy. He seems so unconcerned to help, to alleviate the poverty of Lazarus. He seems to be living in a bubble. He is unaware and unconcerned by the state of the poor man.The problem was not his wealth but his lack of sensitivity. The poor man was not at all on his radar. He was not even aware of this guy. He would not have even remembered him. We must have others on our radar. Aware of them. Connect with them. Care about them and especially have the ability to listen carefully.Pope Francis spoke of listening on January 26, 2022.Music: Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraThumbnail. Jean Pichore Workshop, The Rich Man at Table, Lazarus Barred at the Door. From a Book of Hours. French (Paris), c. 1500, Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France.

A meditation preached to priests at the Manoir de Beaujeu, east of Montreal, March 1, 2026.Mt 8:26: "It is good to be with you here, Lord."For the apostles, this moment involved all their senses: the sudden otherworldly luminosity, the towering figure of Jesus together with Moses and Elijah, the thundering voice of God the Father, the cloud covering them, the fragrance in the wind, and the peace of being with Jesus in all his divinity. Below is the upheaval caused by the curing of the epileptic boy. There are moments of darkness with fear, and others of light. Like the painting by Raphael Sanzio of the Transfiguration from 1520, the last of his life.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.Thumbnail: The Transfiguration by Raphael Sanzio, 1520, in the Vatican Pinacoteca, Rome.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on February 21, 2026. Today’s Gospel gives us a brief snapshot of the call of Levi, or Matthew, the tax collector. Right there, at his post, doing his job, at the customs post, Jesus called him. He walked in, looked at him, and, like in slow motion, Matthew got up, and followed him (Luke 5:27). In front of the grumbling, the Lord declared: It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’ (Luke 5)Matthew fits into the beatitudes that Jesus later outlines as the blueprint of his followers.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.Thumbnail: The Sermon on the Mount (1437-1445), Blessed Fra Angelico, Convent of San Marco, Florence.

A meditation preached on February 19, 2026, at Kintore College, Toronto.In his 2026 message for Lent, Pope Leo speaks about listening.The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone. Then he refers to the image of Moses standing in front of the burning bush.He says: In revealing himself to Moses in the burning bush, God himself teaches us that listening is one of his defining characteristics: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry” (Ex 3:7). Hearing the cry of the oppressed is the beginning of a story of liberation in which the Lord calls Moses, sending him to open a path of salvation for his children who have been reduced to slavery.This is a task we can discover during Lent, and identify some of the obstacles to proper listening.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College in Toronto, on February 11, 2026, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.The Lord speaks today about the kind of openness to God’s love we must have in the events of our life. He promises real resilience for us if we see his hand in our life.Mark 7:14-23: At that time: Jesus called the people to him again and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’What truly wounds us spiritually is not what happens to us, but what we consent to interiorly. We might easily blame external circumstances: our environment, other people, temptations, past wounds. Our growth is not about managing behaviour, but educating the heart: learning to recognize interior movements and choosing which ones to welcome, which ones to reject. It was present in the heart of Bernadette Soubirous, born in January 9, 1844, in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France, in Lourdes. Here is the story.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ernescliff College on January 26, 2026.Mark 3:22-30: The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. Satan’s strategy: division, confusion, and counterfeit good. He wants to confuse good and evil, make it all amorphous. The devil wants to divide. He is bothered by unity. He is irritated by a Hail Mary recited together. It is like a nuclear blast against his own cohesion. The devil always wants to scatter and divide. He wants to pit one person against the other. He wants to divide. He wants comparisons and division.Don’t let him win. Satan wants to divide a family, the church. It Omnes unum sint.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.Thumbnail: St. Michael the Archangel vanquishing the devil. Lorenzo Zucchi after Stefano Torelli 1725 Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on retreat to priests at the Manoir de Beaujeu, in Coteau du lac, near Montreal, Canada.At his most urgent hour, when the apostles are on retreat with their Lord in the garden, a place far away from the hubbub of the crowds, the Lord lets go a searing complaint to his priests:“What! Could none of you stay awake with me one hour?” (Matt 26, 40) We have to stay awake with him in this retreat. The word hour is present 7 times in John. Fulton Sheen refers to each hour in detail. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (Jn 12, 23). The hour for us has now come to respond to his demands, to examine all the layers in which we can be his priests, and truly embrace our mission. Thumbnail: Andrea Mantegna, Christ in the Garden of Olives 1455, egg tempera, National Gallery, London.Music: Angelic, by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with license.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, January 18, 2026. Today’s Gospel presents the account of Jesus' baptism seen through the lens of John the Evangelist. Its the Evangelist’s take. The Baptist appears in the description. (John 1:29-34). But John the Evangelist here interprets the baptism not simply as an event, but as a revelation of identity and mission. Jesus' mission is to be the Lamb that will take away the sin of the world. We need humility to recognize our sins, and embrace God's forgiveness. Have I really done that?Thumbnail : Francisco de Zurbarán, The Lamb of God, 1635, Prado Museum in Madrid.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Angelic, with license.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to university students at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on January 16, 2026.The account of the paralytic lowered by his friends in front of Jesus.Mark 2:1-12: When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralysed man carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralysed man lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Many souls seek to come closer to Jesus. How can we place them in front of Jesus?Thumbnail: Mosaic from the Basilica of Sant'Apolinnare in Nuovo, Ravenna, 5th century.Music: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Angelic Choir, with licence

Meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto,on January 7, 2026.Mark 6, 45-52: "When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”We cannot let Jesus become for us just a phantom. Something seemingly spiritual, but that we don’t really connect with. Don’t really relate to. This is what happens when our prayer is devoid of a real relational, dialogue aspect.Thumbnail: Rembrandt’s Drawing “Christ Walking on the Water” 1638, from the British Museum.Music: Angelic Choir Library with license, Vienna Phiharmonic Orchestra.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on January 2, 2026.Acts of the Apostles repeatedly describes the Apostles speaking with parrhesia—freedom, frankness, fearless speech (Acts 2:29; 4:13, 29, 31). They had received the spirit of adoption. Of divine filiation.Paul still throbs with this parrhesia, the thrill that he witnessed in the apostles. “You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Rom 8:15). How can this fearless sense of conviction imbue us as sons and daughters of God in 2026?Music: Angelic Choir Library with license, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.Thumbnail: Apostles at Pentecost 1030-1040, Ottonian parchment, Regensburg The J. Paul Getty Museum

A meditation preached on January 31, 2025, last day of the year, at Lyncroft centre. Traditionally, in the old Mass, after the priest had given the blessing, before returning to the sacristy, he would read the prologue of John’s Gospel about the preexistence of the Word, from all eternity that had now become flesh. This Gospel was a way to seal the Mass with the mystery of the incarnation, reminding the faithful of what they had received. Our faith is an encounter with the incarnate Logos, not merely an ethical system of good ideas. The apostles were energized by this truth at Pentecost. Now we too feel this same sense of mission as we embark on 2026.Music: O Come O Come Emmanuel. On X from Catholic Arena.Thumbnail: Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints George, Theodore and angels, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai.St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt)

A Christmas Eve Meditation to families at Kintore College, on December 24th, 2025.Luke 2, 1-14: The account of the decree and the shepherdsToday in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.’Why was the child in swaddling cloths a sign to the shepherds? What made them drop down to worship? What makes us drop down to worship God in our life?Thumbnail: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682), The Adoration of the Shepherds (c 1650), oil on canvas, 187 x 228 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, MadridMusic: Angelic Choir Library with license from Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto, on December 17, 2025.As we move forward into the countdown to Christmas, the Church presents us with the Gospel of Matthew that transmits to us the most famous genealogical tree in history. The origins of Jesus, the Messiah. It was written in a way that made it easier to remember. There were fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ. It was all made easier to memorize. There are saints, but also sinners.We too advance, even with our falls. Our mistakes, our own limitations. It is a time for hope, that God uses us, and forges something in our vocation. Can I see that God writes straight with crooked human lines? History is not random. God patiently guides it. We must see God’s hand through history. We must see his loving providence through our life.Music: Vienna Symphonic library, choir of angels-384315Thumbnail: The tree of Jesse, Flemish Psalter from the library of the Irish College in Paris, made in Bruges 1500.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to priests of the priests of the Archdiocese of Toronto, in the parish of St. Edward the Confessor.Today the church celebrates the 15th-century Saint Juan Diego from Mexico, with an unpronounceable last name. He was surnamed Cuauhtlatoatzin. The account of her appearance transformed Mexico. She can transform us, too.Music: Bert Alink, Adeste fideles, guitar, by John Francis Wade. Played 2017.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on December 8th, 2025 at Lyncroft Centrre in Toronto. It has been worthwhile to prepare this solemnity because it tells us something hopeful about God’s plan of salvation, his desire for our redemption. He could count on this woman, not as a mere instrument, but as a free and active cooperator that was beautifully prepared and primed for the great work of salvation.We say she is immaculate, because she is without macula, without stain. The fathers of the Church teased out the Eve-Mary parallel: Mary was the new Eve.Music: relaxing-piano-music-248868Thumbnail: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (Soult Madonna), 1660–65, oil on canvas, (Museo Nacional del Prado)

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto on December 6, 2025. The hymn of Our Lady, the Magnificat, (Luke 1, 46-55) is a pause in the infancy narrative, so that we can meditate on the events. It is as though we had to pause, think, catch our breath, and pray.“My soul magnifies the Lord,     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. Thumbnail: The Magnificat" from the Church of Reconciliation, the church of the Taize Community in FranceMusic: relaxing-piano-music-248868