PODCAST · religion
In Your Presence
by Eric Nicolai
Meditations by Fr. Eric Nicolai, a Catholic priest of Opus Dei in Ernescliff College, Toronto. They are times of prayer addressed to men or women, with the intention of providing a personal dialogue with the Lord Jesus Christ present in their midst. They are usually preached in oratories of Opus Dei.
Episodes
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Keeping Track of the Health of our Vocation
A meditation preached on October 4, 2026, by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Center in Toronto. As we begin these years of preparation for the centennial, we know that we have to continue to grow and mature in this initial yes that we gave to God. The yes of our vocation. We said yes to the…
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Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Josemaria
This meditation was preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 6, 2026. In 2002, Pope John Paul II pronounced this phrase in St. Peter's Square in front of thousands of faithful: "We declare and define Blessed Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer to be a Saint, and We inscribe his name in the...
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Founding of Opus Dei: I am sending an angel before you
A meditation preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 2, 2026. Today is the memorial of the guardian angels. Exodus 23: "The Lord says this: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." Moses guided the people, but...
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Zacchaeus, I want to come to your house today: Living the virtue of detachment
Our Lord loves the poor: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matt 11, 4-5) Our Lord includes this among the great wonders:...
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Our Critical Spirit
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on September 16, 2026. The Gospel tells us about the different reactions of the people to John the Baptist and to Jesus. He comments on the lack of coherence present in these responses. The impossibility of getting coherent...
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Our Lady of Sorrows
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to priests at Saint Augustine Seminary in Toronto on September 15, 2026. Today's feast of Our Lady of Sorrows has an ancient and layered liturgical background. It is said to have started with the ancient Franciscan spirituality that meditated on Mary’s...
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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on September 14, 2026, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Yesterday we decorated with flowers the simple black cross in our oratories so that we could see it bloom today. The hymn of Philippians 2, 6-11: "...he...
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Holy Name of Mary: She Believes in You
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to High School boys at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on September 12, 2026. Last week we celebrated the birth of Mary, the dawn of our salvation. She is the stella matutina, the morning star. It is a time of hope, for the Sun of Justice is about to rise;...
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The Birth of Mary: The Dawn of Salvation
A meditation preached at Ernescliff College in Toronto on September 8th, 2026, by Fr. Eric Nicolai. Today is the birthday of Mary, she is described as the “dawn of our salvation”. The arrival of a new person into the world is always a sign of hope. Mary opens up new possibilities for us in this...
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Jesus Withdrew into the Wilderness and Prayed
This meditation was preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on September 5th, 2026, at Ellerton Centre in Toronto. ‘He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed’ (Lk 5:16) What did it look like to see the Lord withdraw into the wilderness? It was described as wilderness, a wild place because it was hostile to...
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Frame the New Academic Year with Hope
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on September 1, 2026, at the start of the new Academic year at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto. Picture Jesus now coming forward: “And there was handed to him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was...
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Jeremiah's Lament: My Heart Burns Within Me
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 30, 2026. Jeremiah is in utter anguish. He feels that he has failed. He’s in doubt. Maybe he has no vocation after all. He's in an inner crisis. Despite all the suffering he has...
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The Conversion of the Prodigal Son, and ours
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on August 17, 2026 at Parkhill Centre in Ottawa. Prayer in our life is an essential part of our existence of sons of God. It gives our resilience, and our purpose going. It is like the engine room of our interior life. In the Gospel, we have the Pharisees...
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Hypocrites: Clean the Inside of the Cup
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Camp Caribou near Barry's Bay, Ontario, on August 25th, 2026. Today, the Gospel speaks about the distaste that Jesus had for those who relied on appearances, on image, on looking good to others. Those who spent time cultivating a public image. It is a...
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I will Shed my Skin for you Lord: Feast of St. Bartholomew
A meditation on the feast of St. Bartholomew, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College on August 24, 2026. He preached in India and Armenia. For Bartholomew: “he shed his skin”: both in martyrdom and spiritual transformation, putting off the “old self” so that the new person may emerge....
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A 1930 Letter from Saint Josemaria about Holiness
In 1975, Pope Paul VI told Blessed Alvaro del Portillo: "Collect everything that the Founder has written, because it is already a treasure belonging to the whole Church.”
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Mary our Protector: Eve of the Assumption
Maximilian Kolbe had a vision of our Lady who offered him two crowns: a white one for virginity, a red one for martyrdom. Which do you want? I’ll take both. that Mary is and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way. (Assumption preface) Thumbnail: Esteban Márquez de Velasco...
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The DNA of the Life Faith
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. Matt 14, 22-36: Jesus walks on the water, and calls out to Peter: Come! Water in the ancient world was always seen as a place of instability. It was a scary place when you had these rickety boats. But Jesus...
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The Feeding of the 5 Thousand
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. John 6:1-15 tells of the account of the feeding of the 5 thousand. Lots of people. A real problem. A multitude had followed him. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him He...
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Optimism and Smiling Faces
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellentor Centre in Toronto, July 31, 2026. "Don't forget that sometimes it is necessary to have smiling faces." (The Way, 657)
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The Penitent Magdalene
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Chipnee camp in Port Burwell, Ontario, July 22 2026. Mary Magdalene is the first person to whom the risen Christ appeared and he entrusted her with announcing the Resurrection to the Apostles themselves. She is the apostles of Apostles. Pope Francis...
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The Courage of a Full Life
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Chipnee Camp in Port Burwell, Ontario, on July 21, 2026. We reflect on the famous story of the young rich man who approaches Jesus to ask him something.(Mt 19:16–22; Mk 10:17–22; Lk 18:18–23) It’s a key text, one of the most memorable encounters that...
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Forging Bonds of Frienship
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Chipnee Girls Camp in Port Burwell, Ontario. The disciples of Emmaus shared an intense run home after having seen and heard the Lord. When we are together, we cease to be fragile.
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Martha and Mary: The Present and Future Life
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on July 14, 2026. Sitting in front of the Saint Lawrence River, seeing all that water pass by, sometimes calm, other times more agitated. All that water is going to a hydroelectric dam, where it will go through turbines to...
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Workers in the Vineyard
A meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Center in Toronto, preached on July 4th, 2026. Mt 20:1-16: Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for...
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First, Simon who is called Peter
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on July 8th, 2026, at Kintore College, Toronto. Today’s Gospel gives us a glimpse of that luminous moment in which Jesus entrusts his apostles with the most important responsibility of their lives. Nobody has ever been entrusted with a mission as…
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Woman with the Issue of Blood
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on July 6, 2026. From today's gospel, Matthew 9, 18-26: "...Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can...
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If You don't lose your Life, You're Not Worthy of Me
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on June 28, 2026 at Ellerton Centre, Toronto. Matthew 10:37-42: Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take...
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Jesus has power over the Demoniac and over us
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College in Toronto, on July 1, 2026. (new audio file with proper editing uploaded July 2) An account of the two demoniacs of the Gerasenes in Matthew 8:28–34. Jesus intervened and restored them to normality, but it meant that the herd of pigs…
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Josemaria Saw a Vast Fertile Field
A meditation preached on June 24, 2026 at Hawthorn School for Girls on the solemnity of John the Baptist. From the very womb of his elderly mother, John was inundated by the Holy Spirit so as to prepare the manifestation of Jesus to the people. He grew and lived in the desert. He was preparing...
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Saint Josemaria's Legacy
A meditation preached at Ellentor centre in Toronto, on the feast of Saint Josemaria, on June 26, 2026. It’s the legacy that we have the responsibility to maintain, to care for. We know sound elements of doctrine, but it comes out in unique ways in our apostolate, in our family prayer, our…
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Our Divine Filiation is a Solid Foundation
A meditation preached at Kintore College, Toronto, on June 25, 2026. Matt 7, 21-29: ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not...
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Having a Heart that is Pure, Transparent to God's Love
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on June 19, 2026 at the Manoir de Beaujeu, at Coteau du Lac, Quebec. As we do our prayer, we consider that it is especially our heart that has been set aflame even more, rejuvenated, cleared of any arterial sclerosis, any build up over time, so that may…
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Fortitude, Resilience, Courage
Meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Centre in Toronto, May 29, 2026. Today is the memorial of Pope Paul VI, Giovanni Battista Montini, a man of courage in a time of upheaval. Gen 12, 1-16: God speaks to Abraham: leave your country, your family, and go to the country I will tell you. So he...
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The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
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…
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The Gift of Wisdom Changes Everything
Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto on May 21, 2026. As we prepare for Pentecost, let us consider the first gift of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, which enables you to see how good and great the Lord is and, fills our life with flavour, so that, as Jesus said, you may be “salt of…
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Mary Attracts all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
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...
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Solemnity of the Ascension: Where has he gone?
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellentor centre in Toronto on the solemnity of the Ascension, May 17 2026. This is a feast, but it is often under-celebrated. Even the iconography is odd. It shows the apostles standing in a circle, looking up, with Jesus out of the picture, as he…
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Behold Your Mother
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…
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Our Sense of Mission
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on May 10, 2026. This is the month of Pentecost, and we can picture the scene as these flames of fire, these wisps over the head of each apostle. Remember the speech that Cardinal Bergoglio gave in the conclave back in…
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Don’t speak, Just Listen to Him
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...
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Pope Leo XIV at One Year
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on the anniversary of Pope Leo XIV's election, on May 8, 2026 at Ernescliff College, Toronto. Today’s antiphon on the anniversary of the election of the Pope, takes on special resonance for us. Matt 16, 16- 19: 6 Simon Peter answered, “You are the…
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He Dwells in our Soul as in a Mansion
Meditation by Fr. Eric Nicolai on May 4th, 2026 at Ernescliff College, Toronto. John 14, 23-26: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him. The image that we, our soul, is like a dwelling place for God. The Lord says…
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What happens when Grace is poured into your Soul
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at the new Ellerton Centre in Toronto, on Avenue Road on May 2, 2026. In this very moving passage in St. Paul's letter to the Romans, God helps us see the divine interlacing of the three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life…
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John said: It is the Lord! Our Path to Humility
John 21, 2: Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing that night. John says it is the Lord. Clearly, the recognition as a Eucharistic “seeing‑Jesus”: the disciples’ first proper confession of the Resurrected...
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Retreat for Seminarians: Like the Disciples of Emmaus
This is the first meditation from a year end retreat at Saint Augustine's Seminary in Toronto, begun April 13, 2026. We begin with the account of the discouraged disciples of Emmaus. Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Saint Augustine Seminary. Thumbnail: MS Visuals Music: Kevin Macleod, White Lotus.
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The Empty Tomb: what now?
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on Holy Saturday, April 4, 2026 at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto. The last thing we remember from Good Friday was that he was buried. Without commentary. You only bury someone when you’re absolutely clear that he is dead. He fully participated in the human...
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Holy Thursday: The oils, the Feet, the Eucharist.
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on April 2, 2026, Holy Thursday. Two Masses today: the Chrism Mass, which commemorates the institution on the Priesthood, and the bishop blesses the Holy oils. Then the Mass of the Lord’s supper. The day is called In Cena...
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The Calculation of Judas
A meditation preached at Kintore College, Toronto on April 1, 2026, Wednesday of Holy Week. Matt 26:14-25: One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and...
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Simon of Cyrene was Forced to carry the Cross
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on Palm Sunday, 2026, to a group of boys at a camp in Port Burwell, Ontario. Palm Sunday is our entry into Holy Week. We are invited to contemplate the Passion. We remember that Pope Francis' last Palm Sunday focused on the figure of Simon of Cyrene. As…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Meditations by Fr. Eric Nicolai, a Catholic priest of Opus Dei in Ernescliff College, Toronto. They are times of prayer addressed to men or women, with the intention of providing a personal dialogue with the Lord Jesus Christ present in their midst. They are usually preached in oratories of Opus Dei.
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In Your Presence currently has 509 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Meditations by Fr. Eric Nicolai, a Catholic priest of Opus Dei in Ernescliff College, Toronto. They are times of prayer addressed to men or women, with the intention of providing a personal dialogue with the Lord Jesus Christ present in their midst. They are usually preached in oratories of Opus...
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In Your Presence is created and hosted by Eric Nicolai.
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