Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation to a group of young men at Ernescliff College in Toronto, on December 9, 2023. The Gospel of Mark 10, 17-31 tells the account of the young man who presented himself to Jesus and asked what he must do to obtain eternal life. A challenging exchange ensued. To dig into this, we must have a deep understanding of what a vocation is. Here's one definition: "The vocation is the providential thought of the Creator for each creature, it is his idea-plan, like a dream found in God's heart, because the creature is found in his heart. God the Father wants this to be different and specific for each living person."

Music: Komm, süsser Tod, BWV 478, Guitar arrangement by Bert Alink.

Thumbnail: Cyprien Tanguay (1819-1902) portrait by Antoine Plamondon, painted c. 1832, Quebec, Canada.

Matthew 7: Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

The image is very evocative, but we must see how this applies to our own interior life. It might be said that our life has to be built on Christ himself, and so we have to seek to identify ourselves with his will. But is it really true?

Eugène Burnand (Swiss artist, 19th century

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We have just begun today the novena to the Immaculate Conception. It starts with the feast of St. Andrew, the brother of Peter. The two became the most effective apostles ever, and they remained faithful to the end, both of them dying by crucifixion. Peter in Rome, Andrew in Greece. The novena has this tone of apostolic zeal. This sense of fervour that we want to be faithful apostles, and truly evangelize. Bring souls to Christ. Today it starts with the most iconic phrase from Jesus: I will make you fishers of men (Matt 4, 19). He did not say you will do certain things. You will do certain apostolic activities. Meetings, and invitations, clubs. No, you will be apostles, in every moment.

This is a shot meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Kintore College, Toronto, November 30, 2023.

Music: Handel, Rinaldo Opera, Aria "Lascia che io pianga" Arranged for guitar by Bert Alink. 

Thumbnail: Raphael cartoons of the miraculous Draught of Fish, 1515 in Victorian Albert Museum.

St. Josemaria had a magnanimous soul, he drew beauty, and great dreams of ambition to sanctity out of others. What is our greatest ambition? He said: The greatest ambition of the children of God in Opus Dei . . . must always be to serve.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation in Ernescliff College, Toronto, on the eve of the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Music: Lauda Jerusalem (Psalm 147) - Choir of Blessed Pier Giorgio – Aumônerie de Nantes

Thumbnail: Mihail Alivizakis Icon painter.

Yesterday we had the passage from Luke about the blind man who is healed by Jesus also in Jerico. From Matthew we know the blind man’s name, Bartimaeus. Today Luke 19 tells us about another man, also in Jerico, but on the opposite side of the social spectrum. Not a poor blind man without power, money or standing. But a publican, a tax collector who worked for the Roman occupation, and his named is Zacchaeus. Both could not see Jesus: Bartimaeus because he was blind, Zacchaeus because he was too short. To be able to see Jesus he took initiative. This is an analogous to taking our formation more seriously.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ernescliff College on November 21, 2023.

Music: Handel Rinaldo, Aria Lascia che io pianga, adapted for guitar by Bert Alink.

Today's reading is from Luke 18:35-43, about the blind man of Jerico, healed by Jesus.

This passage lends itself to our prayer, because we can easily conjure up the image, the sounds, the atmosphere, the smells, that the blind man was experiencing. We weren’t there, and we too are blind, in a way. And he reacted.

Saint Josemaria has a long commentary on this passage in Friends of God, from a meditation he preached on October 12, 1947.

How do I really read the Word of God, Holy Scripture, to its fullest meaning?

Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College on November 20, 2023.

Music: Handel, Opera Rinaldo, Aria Lascia che io pianga adapted for guitar by Bart Alink.

Thumbnail: Anna and Tobit by Rembrandt, 1630, National Gallery, UK.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached today November 11: at the 11th hour, the 11th day, the 11th month in 1918, the bugle sounded to announce the ceasing of all hostilities. Today we remember the fallen.

Now Poppy is emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields" written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky 

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead.

Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie 

In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high. 

If ye break faith with us who die

In Flanders fields.

After the 313 edict of Emperor Constantine which conceded to Christians the freedom to practice their religion, Pope Silvester dedicated the Basilica of St. John the Lateran as the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. It was dedicated in 324. What does this mean to us today? Fr. Eric Nicolai gives a brief explanation at Kintore College, Toronto, on November 9, 2023.

Music: Julia Florida played Bert Alink.

Thumbnail: Basilica of St. John the Lateran, from Catholic News Report.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches in Kintore College from today's Gospel:

Luke 14, 25-33: ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.”  We are building a tower in this life. It must be well-built to resist the storms. We have begun on the foundations of discipline, order, and human virtues. But we must keep going up, and persevere. We count on our will and God's grace.

Music: Waltz No 1 from Op 121 by Ferdinando Carulli Played by Cristian Garcia.

Thumbnail: Gallica BnF of the Eiffel Tour building process. gallica.bnf.fr

Psalm 127: Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laboraverunt, qui aedificant eam. Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat, qui custodit eam.

Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

We must build on the solid foundations of interior life for us to discover the new Mediterraneans of apostolate in our life.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on October 20, 2023 at Cedarcrest Conference Centre.

Music: Antonio Vivaldi, Nisi Dominus, RV 680, Cum demerit...(Tim Mead)

Sands of Time, Juan Sanchez, on Pixaabay music clips Royalty free.

Thumbnail: Château de Foix, France, 9th century.