Spelade
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Gospel Lk 4: 1-13: Picture Jesus in the desert. The desert is an inhospitable place. Dry sand, rocky, the occasional shrub, and no water. Hot in the day, freezing at night. I too want to be resolute during this Lent, these 40 days. But with your help Lord, we can. Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects here on our temptations.
Jaime Sanz Santcruz wrote an amazing book, Reilusionate.
https://www.amazon.ca/Reilusiónate-Spanish-Jaime-Sanz-Santacruz-ebook/dp/B09H2RPFKW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GIZFNDV8R3BN&keywords=Reilusionate&qid=1646968079&sprefix=reilusionate%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1
Music: Handel, 'Ombra mai fu' from Serse, HWV. 40 Piano Glen Hoban.
Thumbnail: Ivan Kramskoi, Jesus in the Wilderness, 1872. Public domain.
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We began with the ashes on our forehead: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (cf.Gen 3:19). Pope Francis said: "The dust sprinkled on our heads brings us back to earth; it reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return."
This is the itinerary we now embark upon: Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. All geared to inner conversion. Will this be the best lent of my life? The liturgical colour has changed to purple. This will set the tone.
A meditation preached in Lyncroft centre in Toronto, by Fr. Eric Nicolai.
Music: A. Vivaldi, Nisi Dominus, RV 608 - IV. Cum dederit.
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Matt 13, 44-46: The parable of the hidden treasure, and the fine pearl.
If we found a great treasure, we would do everything possible to safeguard it. Our vocation is like that hidden treasure, but also like that pearl, it is unique to us, and we were allowed to find it. God has been working at it for years, just like a tiny pearl in its shell. Fr. Eric Nicolai describes the beauty of our life in Christ.
Music:Handel, Opera Rinaldo, Aria "Lascia ch'io pianga", arranged for guitar by Bert Alink
Thumbnail: Base of the Medieval Chalice of Abbot Suger (1081 – 1151). Now in the National Gallery in Washington DC.
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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Kintore College in Toronto on January 31, 2022. A scribe, perhaps dazzled by all these wonders, comes up to Him and says: Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go (Mt 8:19). We only know Jesus’ answer: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20). What does this answer mean?
Music: Claude Debussy, Clair De Lune L32, arranged for guitar by Angel Romero. Museopen.org
Thumbnail: Mosaic of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Rome, dating to the 6th century (Wiki Commons)
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St. John tells us that Jesus assisted at a wedding as a guest. It took place at Cana. The Catechism says that the Church sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence. The wedding started with regular wine, but it ran out, and was left with water, and then came the really premium quality wine. It is an image of the love present natural marriage and in the Sacrament of Matrimony. A meditation preached at Kintore College by Fr. Eric Nicolai on January 22, 2022.
Music: J.S. Bach, "Komm, süsser Tod", BWV 478 - Guitar Transcription by Bert Alink.
Thumbnail: Paolo Veronese, Wedding Feast at Cana (1563) Louvre. Wikimedia Commons.
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A meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai, preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, January 14, 2022.
Mark 2:1-12: Today we have the friends of the paralytic. They were expecting a cure, they were not expecting that the Lord would forgive sins. If only God can forgive sin, it means that they all had a clear sense of the severity of sin.
Music: Soledad, by Carlos Gardel, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.
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Pope Francis speaks frequently of the need to generate greater unity between the different generations. The parable of the prodigal son, his older brother and his father, related by Jesus, can help us to delve into this topic. (Lk 15)
Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto on January 12, 2022.
Much of the ideas were taken from a Spanish article by Diego Zalbidea, "Agradar a Dios (VI): hermanos que miran al Padre. Unidad entre generaciones distintas." https://opusdei.org/es/article/hermanos-que-miran-al-padre/
Music: Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935), "Lua Branca" (white moon), played on guitar by Bert Alink.
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.ernescliff.ca
www.opusdei.ca
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Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to a group of priests in Toronto at St. Aidan's parish. Joseph Ratzinger said: Only through the Son could we learn what a Father truly is. He is the only son of God. But through baptism he has made us adopted sons and daughters. But only through the Son can we learn this truth. And this is a truth we must seek to contemplate more and more. How? By reading, by forming our mind, our heart, our conscience, our vision, so that we see everything through this lens of fatherhood.
Music: Handel, Rinaldo Opera, aria Lascia ch'io pianga, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.
For more meditations, check my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.ernescliff.ca
www.opusdei.ca
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The meaning of commitment is seen in the story of the farmer who had breakfast a pair of fried eggs with Iberian bacon. Well, in that splendid breakfast involved the contribution of the hen. But the pig however, was truly committed.
Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches about freedom and commitment at Lyncroft Centre, on November 17, 2021.
Lk 14, 28: For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Imagine not being able to finish what we’ve begun years ago. However many years ago you were baptised, you want to finish. You want to persevere in that loyalty to God, fidelity to your vocation, that yes which began long ago, and yet you still have more ahead…
We ask: how is my tower going? a tower needs good foundations. Needs human prudence, patient daily work, so that it can weather storms, the earthquakes. But especially the role of freedom in this undertaking.
Music: Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935), "Lua Branca" (white moon), played on guitar by Bert Alink.
