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 written…"

Then with a sure voice:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:1–2) from Luke 4:17.

God’s gracious “year”—a jubilee of mercy, liberation, healing and restoration. We are now at the beginning of the academic year. A new moment of hope for all of us. How will we frame this hope?