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Lk 14, 28: ”Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
Jesus said we are building tower.
The daily building of that tower is also in our use of time. He says this to show that if mere human prudence means that a person should try to work out in advance the risks he may run, with all the more reason should a Christian embrace the Cross voluntarily and generously, because there is no other way he can follow Jesus Christ. Sometimes that regards how we build the tower, or the house of our sanctification.
Famous C.S. Lewis passage from Mere Christianity.
“Imagine yourself as a living house. You have one version of renovation, but God wants something quite different. He doesn't just want just a quaint cottage, he wants to build a palace. So he too can live and take his place in it.
How happy we were when we heard Pope John Paul II say these words to the pilgrims in St. Peter’s square on Oct 7, 2002:
St Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to announce the universal call to holiness and to point out that daily life and ordinary activities are a path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of ordinary life. In fact, he was convinced that for those who live with a perspective of faith, everything is an opportunity to meet God, everything can be an incentive for prayer. Seen in this light, daily life reveals an unexpected greatness. Holiness is truly within everyone's reach.
He doesn’t actually mention “work”, or professional work, but this is indeed the activity that all of us are engaged in everyday. So even on a holiday, when we’re not “working”, we’re engaged in an activity that sanctifies us.
Music: Adrain Berenguer, Fall (Album Singularity) 2017.
Thumbnail: Construction Eiffel April 15, 1888 Roger Viollet Getty Images
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January 23 is the anniversary of the election of the Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz which took place in Rome in 2017.
He was elected, meaning chosen by his confreres. Simple ceremony. No big sudden changes. There is unity and continuity. Some changes that are really only cosmetic, that are changes with the times, and with the desire of the pope.
He does not go and simply reverse everything his predecessor did.
We are also in the Octave of Christian Unity. Jesus prayed for the unity among his apostles.
Pope Francis said Wednesday that the Lord did not command that His disciples be united. No, He prayed. He prayed to the Father for us, so that we might be one. This means that we are not able to achieve unity with our own strength.
Above all, unity is a gift, it is a grace to be requested through prayer.
Each one of us needs it. In fact, we know that we are not capable of preserving unity even within ourselves. Even the apostle Paul felt a painful conflict within himself: wanting the good but inclined toward evil (see Rm 7:19). He had thus grasped the root of so many divisions that surround us – between people, in families, in society, between nations and even between believers – and inside us.
Division inside us comes from sin. The true remedy begins by asking God for peace, reconciliation, unity. So we need to ask for it in prayer. It is a gift we really need.
Pray with other Christians. Listen to them. Protestants and Orthodox. Do I ever pray for unity in the family? In the church? In the country? Do I realize that it is part of my duty too?
The Prelate said in a homily last year:
“May we rely more on you, Lord, and less on our own strength. And when we experience our own weakness, help us to be happy, knowing that you have chosen us with this weakness, because you love us.” (Homily, 23 January 2020)
Music: Andrian Berenguer, Fall, Album Singulairty (2017)
Thumbnail: Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz received by Pope Francis after being elected Prelate in 2017
See videos of meditations:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
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Today Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches about the first reading from the Second Sunday of ordinary time, the account of Samuel’s vocation (1 Sam 3, 3-10, 19.)
We start with the back story of Hannah, who was childless. She went to Shiloh, to the temple. She prayed ardently. The priest there was Eli, who was pretty flaky, and he in turn had two sons who also became priests, and they were Hophni and Phinehas. They were corrupt, and immoral. In fact the book of Samuel itself says that they were “scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.” (1 Sam 2, 12) But Hannah gives birth to Samuel and eventually brings him to the temple where he is brought up by Eli.
Eventually Samuel is brought up in the temple. He is awoken several times by the Lord who calls out to him. But it took a while to engage. It had something to do with sleepiness. How can I hear your voice Lord, if I sit back?
Talk now to him, he is listening, and you too are listening. Give me greater light and understanding about myself, and how I am answering to your call. Engaging pro-actively not just in the work I have to do, the many things that need to be done: but the pro-active spirit of dialogue with you.
The exchange is beautiful it really reflects the kind of promptness that should be in our soul.
Here I am Lord. Your servant is listening.
Samuel alone would not have known how to act. He was kind of lost. But though Eli is not perfect, he has his flaws, he nevertheless serves as an instrument for Samuel to discover his divine task.
Back 40 years ago, in 1981 the movie Chariots of Fire won four Oscars, including Best Picture. Great music by Vangelis. Amazing opening scenes of these British runners running on the beach… One of the film’s cornerstones is the importance of faith and prayer, discerning what God really wants. Eric Liddell is in the church of Scotland. He says that faith can be “compared to running in a race. It’s hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul,” especially when trying to live it with naturalness in one’s daily life. When facing the difficult choice between training for the Olympics or abandoning everything for the missions which his parents insisted on, Liddell tells his sister, “Jenny, I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
Music opening and closing: Adrian Berenguer, Fall, Album Singularity (2017)
Middle clips: Vangelis - Chariots of Fire - Theme Song, from Internet archive: https://archive.org/details/tvtunes_21754
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches about Mark 2, 1-12: The healing of the paralytic in Capernaum.
The first word of Jesus is very simple :“Courage, your sins are forgiven”.
Courage: that meant that the paralytic must have been quite discouraged, probably somewhat depressed, maybe even in despair. He lacked the energy to do anything about his situation. He probably thought to himself I’m useless, I can’t even walk, I can’t get around, I can’t help anyone, what am I good for? This must’ve clouded his vision, and made him perhaps cynical and negative about life. Perhaps that’s partly why his friends brought him to see Jesus.
Music: Adrien Berenguer, Fall (Album Singularity 2017)
Thumbnail: Baptistry wall painting of the Paralytic, AD 232. Now at Yale art Gallery, from French Excavations at Dura-Europos, Syria.
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches in Lyncroft Centre about the birthday of Saint Josemaria Escriva in Basbastro in 1902. We always celebrate this birthday at the beginning of the year, when we’re looking at it with hope, wondering how it will turn out, what will history say about 2021. We haven’t seen 2021 yet, but we can wonder if it will make a mark: not a splotch, or a stain, but a significant mark that will inspire us further to sanctity, and to be an instrument of sanctity. Our Father must continue to leave his mark. Perhaps hidden, but real.
I heard that Fr. Javier Cremades died yesterday in Madrid at 74 years old of a pulmonary disease. He was the architect of the WYD 2011. He was ordained for Opus Dei in 1973. He was enamoured of Christ. Full of energy and imagination, and plenty of sense of humour. He was one of the many examples of people on whom Saint Josemaria left his mark, the mark of love of Christ.
Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall, Album Singularity (2017)
Thumbnail: Josemaria Escriva as a child
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches about the virtue of humility at Ernescliff College.
Lk 4, 16-30 The account of Jesus in Nazareth reading in the synagogue.
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me...." The Fathers of the Church see this verse as a reference to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) of the Lord (the Father) is upon me (the Son): (cf. Origen, Homily 32).
Jesus read the passage from Isaiah 61:1-2 where the prophet announces the coming of the Lord, who will free his people of their afflictions. In Christ this prophecy finds its fulfilment, for he is the Anointed, the Messiah whom God has sent to his people in their tribulation. Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit for the mission the Father has entrusted to him. These phrases, according to Luke (vv. 18-19), are his first messianic declaration. But many did not believe him. But they were very superficial; in their narrow-minded pride they felt hurt that Jesus, their fellow-townsman, had not worked in Nazareth the wonders he had worked elsewhere. They presume they have a special entitlement and they insolently demand that he perform miracles to satisfy their vanity, not to change their hearts.
What is the best recipe to arrive at real humility?
Music: Andrian Berenguer, Fall, album Singularity (2017)
Thumbnail: James Tissot (1836-1902), Jesus Unrolls the Book in the Synagogue 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper Brooklyn Museum.
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A meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft Centre, Toronto, on January 3, 2021.
For the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history.
Readings of today's Mass are from Book of Isaiah 60, 1-6 and Psalm 71 (72)
Isaiah 60, 6: "…camels in throngs will cover you, and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of the Lord."
Pope Benedict XVI says that all kinds of factors could have combined to generate the idea that the language of the star contained a message of hope. But none of this would have prompted people to set off on a journey, unless they were people of inner unrest, people of hope, people on the lookout for the true star of salvation. The men of whom Matthew speaks were not just astronomers. There were “wise.” They represent the inner dynamic of religion toward self-transcendence, which involves a search for truth, a search for the true God and hence “philosophy” in the original sense of the word.”
Restless? Meaning anxious to tap into something great and beautiful, outside ourselves, beyond ourselves, beyond what we can even imagine.
Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall, Album Singularity (2017)
Image: Georges Trubert, France 1469, "The Adoration of the Magi". From the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
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This is the last meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in 2020. We're about to make a transition to a new calendar year, with the great solemnity of the Mother of God. Mary not only carried Jesus in her womb but also supplied all of the genetic matter for his human body, since it was through her—not Joseph—that Jesus “was descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3). In the fifth Century Nestorius had objected to this, and said Mary was only the mother of the nature. But the church rejected this claim, saying she was not only mother of a nature, but also of the person. She was mother of God, theotokos, in Greek.
One of the ancient philosophers once remarked that man differs from the beasts essentially because he can, as it were, raise his head above the waters of time.
The beasts are like fish swimming in the water; they are simply carried along by the stream of time. Man alone can raise his sights above the water and so become master of time.
But do we really do that? Are we not, too, mere fish in the sea of time, carried along by its currents without a clear view of whence time comes and whither it goes? Do we not become so completely absorbed in the details of daily life, with its constant demands and troubles, moving from deadline to deadline, duty to duty, that we are no longer able to perceive ourselves?
This should be an hour, then, for emerging from the water and trying for a moment to look beyond the sea of time to heaven above and its stars, so that in the process we may lay hold of ourselves as well.
Music Adrian Berenguer, Fall, (Album Singularity) 2017
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Fr. Eric Nicolai gives one of the first meditations at a retreat at Ernescliff College, Dec 26, 2020. This is on the mystery of vocation. God chooses and calls everyone: He chose us in Christ, that we should be holy and blameless in his presence through love (Eph 1:4).
He chose Abraham in Christ. He chose Sarai his wife. He chose Jacob, changed his very name to Israel, and then saved Moses from sure destruction, and chose him to lead his people. He chose David. He chose Jeremiah, and Ezekial, and Daniel, and Ruth, and even Melchisedek, that mysterious figure whose purpose it took so long to figure out.
He chose Mary, he chose John the Baptist. He chose you and me. Don’t let this pass as a fait accompli. Experience it.
Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall, from the album Singularity (2017)
Thumbnail: Prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
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Preached Christmas Eve at Kintore College:
Psalm 88: 2-5: I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.
This is from this evening’s responsorial psalm. A beautiful exultation of who we will give praise through hymns and songs when we adore God. Isn’t it wonderful how Christmas is known for carolling, for the many beautiful Christmas songs, Christmas concerts that we hear very year these hymns, and we never get used to them? They evoke our childhood, a time of simplicity and confidence.
Especially important is the theme of joy because God has come close to us, and has made himself vulnerable like a little child. We also focus in on the tenderness of Mary and Joseph. The purity of Mary and the protective gaze of Joseph.
But no manger scene is complete without an ox and an ass in the picture.
Music: Die Schönsten Deutsche Weihnachtslieder : Helige Nacht.
Thumbnail: Duccio di Buoninsegna Nativity 1308, National Gallery, Washington, DC.
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches about the role of the Holy Spirit in our life. Our Lord told the apostles: "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). And then: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. And we have heard his summons – “be my witnesses throughout the world” – (Acts 1:8). These were the very last words which Jesus spoke before his Ascension into heaven. How the Apostles felt upon hearing them, we can only imagine. But we do know that their deep love for Jesus, and their trust in his word, prompted them to gather and to wait; to wait not aimlessly, but together, united in prayer, with the women and Mary in the Upper Room (cf. Acts 1:14).
The Holy Spirit is described as the great unknown. A shadowy, mysterious figure. But his role in our sanctification is absolutely essential. Even in everything we say, he acts, silently. Here's how it happens.
Music: Adrian Guerenger, Fall (2017) from Artist.io
Thumbnail: The Annunciation, Philippe de Champaigne, 1644. Public domain.
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A frequent subject of 19th century paints was the land. There was a movement that came to be known as the Barbison school. Painters went out and painted it right there in the fields and along the forests. One subject that has always appealed to me is the sower who sows his seed. Jean-Francois Millet had a wonderful genre painting of this which he repeated over and over in between 1850 to 1870. It expressed profound personal conviction that he had to be a real sower of peace and of joy.
Thumbnail: Jean-Francois Millet, The Sower (1850). Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.
Music: Andrian Guerenger, Fall (2017)
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This is the introductory meditation to silent retreat, preparing people to pray intensely for the next 5 days.
Music: Adrian Guerenguer, Fall. (2017)
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Here is the story of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin and his encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. She wanted a shrine built, she gave him a souvenir of that encounter, and transformed Mexican society with massive conversions from paganism to Christianity. Fr. Eric Nicolai tells the story here.
Music: Adriá Guerenger, Fall.
More meditations on www.youtube.com/ericnicolai
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What does the word advent even mean? It comes from the Greek word parousia, which means presence, or arrival. Advent means the arrival of the Lord that has already begun but has only just begun. It has begun silently. John the Baptist ended up in prison. He was expecting Jesus to come with his winnowing chaff. Instead he came quietly, with only some miracles and healings. He sent his own disciples to ask Jesus if he was really the one. “God’s presence had begun... but what a difference from what the Baptist had imagined! No fire fell from heaven to consume sinners and bear definitive witness to the just; in fact, nothing changed at all in the present world. Jesus went about preaching and doing good in the land, but the ambiguity remained. Human life continued to be an obscure mystery that man has to pursue with faith and hope into the world’s darkness. A meditation preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto by Fr. Eric Nicolai.
Music: Holy Night by Christmas choir
Thumbnail: "St. John the Baptist in Prison Visited by Two Disciples" (1455-60) by Giovanni di Paolo (Art Institute of Chicago)
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A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft centre, Toronto, in the early morning of December 8, 2020.
In his eternal design for his Son to become man, God also chose Mary as the Mother of the Word Incarnate. This plan had an essential effect both in the manner in which the Word would become flesh—the Word not only became man; he became the descendent of Adam—and on the form of Mary’s motherhood would take.
Her's is a perfect and complete motherhood in all its aspects; in it the person of the Virgin is found to have a total, absolute reference to the Person of the Redeemer and to the Salvation of the world. The early icons of Jesus being held by his mother, in her lap. She is upright. She points to him. He blesses. These icons had a Greek name: Hodigateria. It means she is "showing the way to salvation". She showed us that way by point to her Son, and making him present in her. She is truly co-redemptrix.
The thumbnail is a famous icon of the Hodegateria.
Music; Adrian Burenguer, "Fall". Album Sungularity (2017)
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Prov 21, 1-6; 10-13: The lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares….Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Ernescliff College and invites us to read these words of Solomon slowly. We sense words about the poisonous nature of pride, addressed to us. And how we need to build humility. One way is through what Pope Francis has called the theology of the encounter: "Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption." (Evangelii Gaudium 8)
Music: Handel, Lascia ch'io pianga, played beautifully on the guitar by Bert Alink.
Thumbnail painting: Piero della Francesca, Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, circa 1465. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. He is seen presiding proudly over his lands in a double portrait with his wife the Duchesse Battista Sforza.
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A meditation preached in Lyncroft Hospitality Centre on the Gospel of the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) on the Gospel of the New Commandment.
Music: Handel's Opera Rinaldo, aria: Lascia ch'io pianga, played in guitar by Bert Alink.
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Psalm 17 (18): 2-4, 47, 51: I love you, Lord, my strength.
My rock, my fortress, my saviour. My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold. The Lord is worthy of all praise, when I call I am saved from my foes.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Long life to the Lord, my rock! Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king and shown his love for his anointed.
Today's psalm from the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) invites us to experience God as our rock and our shield. How does this happen in my prayer? In my thoughts? Fr. Eric Nicolai opens some possibilities in this meditation in Lyncroft Hospitality Centre.
Music: Handel's opera, Rinaldo, aria Lascia ch'io pianga, played on the guitar by Bert Alink.
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Today, November 28, is the anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution “Ut Sit” from 1982, in which Pope John Paul II establish Opus Dei as a Personal Prelature. It was the definitive canonical suit that Opus Dei needed in order to have that new energy in the mission of the church. Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches on this 38th anniversary in Lyncroft centre and explains its significance.
Music: FALL - Adrian Berenguer (Album Singulairty) from Musopen.org
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