In Your Presence

In preparation for the solemnity of Pentecost, we have been trying to see all the things that can happen if we really become docile to his presence in our souls. For the apostles, it was manifested by a powerful wind that shook the house that they were in. Like a powerful tornado, a divine presence that no one could ignore. The result was that their lives were imbued with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. A meditation preached on the eve of Pentecost at Kintore College, Toronto, May 23, 2026.Music: Audiio MULVEY Awakening Instrumental.Thumbnail: Bernini's Holy Spirit in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto on May 20, 2026. During the month of May we prepare for Pentecost and also increase our devotion to our blessed Mother, Mary. There is an intimate connection between Mary and the Holy Spirit. Mary attracted the Holy Spirit like a magnet at the Annunciation, and when she was at the centre of the apostles at Pentecost. Two moments in which she served as a powerful attraction to draw down the Holy Spirit onto the world, onto the church, unto us and our priesthood. The two are connected.We need Mary, we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit.Music: Audiio MULVEY Awakening Awakening InstrumentalThumbnail: Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649), La Pentecôte 1615, Prado Museum.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on May 14, 2026. John 19, 25-27: Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. It is one of the most oft-represented scenes in art: Jesus on the cross, with Mary and John below, weeping, in pain.It was right after the soldiers had divided his garments into four parts, one for each soldier, as though they were getting precious relics in that moment, but they were seeing these garments as pieces that they themselves might wear, or sell. He is saying to us now, before Pentecost: Behold your mother. Stay with Mary in the month of May so that you might truly be touched by the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is coming.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ernescliff College on May 10, 2026.In 1932, Our Father wrote in his Intimate Notes, in a time of youth, a time with little experience, and uncertainty, and unsure of himself: Don’t speak: Listen to him. This was his attitude to the Holy Spirit. This applies to us. Some people speak a lot, and figure things out as they speak. But how actively do we really listen? To others, to the HS, to our own conscience? Have I fallen to the brain fog, this dissipation, not aware that inside that cloud of unknowing, there is God, the Holy Spirit is pointing at something.Music: Audiio MULVEY, Awakening Awakening Instrumental

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College, March 19, 2026.There is a passage from Colossians that appeared in yesterday’s vespers to Saint Joseph. It applies to him, and to us. Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever your work is, put your heart into it as if it were for the Lord and not for men, knowing that the Lord will repay you by making you his heirs. It is Christ the Lord that you are serving."The response says: "The virtuous man will bloom like the lily."As we woke up this morning, on our knees, we renewed our dedication, our yes. We want to bloom like the lily today. We call it renewing, but we might also call it refreshing, face our call with a fresh face, a luminous gaze, full of awareness of God’s presence. 1 Samuel 16: We have the stirring account of the call of David, his vocation, and his anointing by Samuel. David was the youngest; he was gone, he was not even in the list. He was not even on the list of nominees. "Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing."Music: Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraThumbnail: Bartolome Murillo, Saint Joseph with the child, 1670. John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida.

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

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 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.