Afgespeeld
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The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the most perfect reflection of the love and purity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Yesterday was the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, a long standing devotion in the church that has taken on different forms. It started in that moment when John testified to what he saw, as Jesus’ side was violently pierced by a sword: look upon him whom they have pierced. Preached June 12, 2021 at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto.
Music: Andrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017)
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.opusdei.ca
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A meditation inspired by the pastoral letter by Thomas Cardinal Collins, archbishop of Toronto, entitled Heart Speaks to Heart. In the midst of the pandemic, and all the suffering that it supposes he is opening his heart about the love that will keep us afloat, and that is still capable of transforming us, despite all the devastation: it is the power of the Sacred heart.
Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft centre, Toronto, June 4, 2021
Music: Andrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017)
Thumbnail: Stained glass detail from a window in the Sacred Heart (Dahlgren) chapel in Georgetown University.
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
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Lk 1, 39-41: Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah.
Why did Mary go with such haste? What was her purpose in this trip? She teaches us quite a lot about the spirit of service we must have with those around us. Know how to serve as they would need to be served. This is from a meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College on May 31, 2021.
Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Singularity, 2017)
Thumbnail: Antependium from Straßburg, detail [1410] tapestry Frankfurt Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art.
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We’ve often heard that phrase of our Father: “God he takes a risk with our freedom.”
What does this mean?
Josemaria Escriva: God wants us to cooperate with him in this task which he is carrying out in the world. He takes a risk with our freedom. I am deeply moved by the Jesus born in Bethlehem: a defenceless, powerless child, incapable of offering any resistance. God gives himself up to men; he comes close to us, down to our level.
As St. Paul says: ”Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." God respects and bows down to our freedom, our imperfection and wretchedness. He agrees to have his divine treasures carried in vessels of clay; he lets us make them known; God is not afraid of mixing his strength with our weaknesses. (Christ passing 113)
Music:
Handel, Rinaldo Opera, Aria Lascia ch'io pianga, arranged by Bert Alink. '
Museopen.org
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.ernescliff.ca
www.opusdei.ca
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Lk 24, 35-48: The disciples on the road to Emmaus had realized that their hearts were burning within them. It was afire of longing to be with the master, to stay with him. Mane nobiscum Domine, was the prayer that expressed that inner fire.
But in that moment of agitation, he comes among them and says peace be with you. Shalom. A common Jewish expression. But here it has the sense of salvation.
We must seek to be like a calm lake, where the sun is easily reflected. But if we are agitated, we are like a lake with waves, ripples, the sun glistens, but is not truly reflected like in a mirror.
Before you make any decision, you must be at peace. You must be tranquil. You must be serene.
Anxiety seems tone growing. It can be stifling, almost paralysing. Even in small things. Some saints were as prone to worry and anxiety as the rest of us are. But, by placing their trust in the Lord's presence and care, they were able to overcome their fears.
Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft centre, Toronto, April 18, 2021
Music: Andrien Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017)
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.ernescliff.ca
www.opusdei.ca
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Saint Josemaria did his first communion April 23, 1912, at the age of 10. By a decree issued in 1910 by Pope Saint Pius X, the age requirement was lowered to when the use of reason is acquired, "which is at about the age of seven.” He was well prepared. He learned the prayer of spiritual communion, which did not keep to himself, but transmitted to thousands of others. The spiritual communion can be memorized: "I wish my Lord to receive you with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your most Holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervour of the saints".
Music: Guitar: Anonymous romance : Jeux interdits (Pierre Laniau)
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Today Pope Benedict XVI turns 94. He was baptized on the very day that he was born. Re-born in the Holy Spirit. He affirmed in 2012 that he could say that life is good: "It becomes a true gift only if, along with it, we are given a promise that is stronger than any evil that could threaten us, if it is immersed in a power that ensures that it is good to be human, that there will be good for this person no matter what the future brings. Thus, with birth is associated rebirth, the certitude that, truly, it is good to be alive, because the promise is stronger than evil. This is the meaning of rebirth by water and the Holy Spirit: to be immersed in the promise that only God can make — it is good that you exist, and you can be certain of that whatever comes. With this assurance I was able to live, reborn by water and the Holy Spirit."
Today’s Mass is about going beyond human calculations. John 6:1-15: Multiplication of loaves and fish.
Other meditations can be found on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Multiplicity, 2017)
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Lyncroft centre. This is March 28, and coincides with the anniversary of the priestly ordination of Saint Josemaria Escriva in 1925. He recounts the symbols used today, Palm Sunday, and makes references to the moments leading up to Josemaria’s ordination.
Thumbnail: The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (1842-1845). Located in the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris.
Music: J.S. Bach, "Komm, Jesu, komm", BWV 229. https://musopen.org
