Recollected, to be Close to the Heart of Jesus

Homily of H.E., Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines

August 19, 2026 | Solemnity of Saint Ezekiel Moreno, Patron Saint of Cancer Patients

Saint Ezekiel Moreno Novitiate - Recoletos, Antipolo City, Philippines

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

For me, it's wonderful and a great source of joy in my heart to be with all of you this morning here at Saint Ezekiel Moreno Novitiate for the Feast of your beloved patron Saint Ezekiel Moreno.

I'm delighted to be accompanied by His Excellency the Most Rev. Ruperto C. Santos, the Bishop of Antipolo, and also the Prior Provincial of the Recollects, Rev. Fr. Bernard C. Amparado, OAR, all of the other Recollect Fathers, brothers, and novices who are gathered here this morning, and especially all of you, devotees of Saint Ezekiel Moreno, on his glorious feast day.

Because indeed, Saint Ezekiel Moreno went to heaven exactly 120 years ago, today. In 1906, he left this world on the 19th of August in Spain and went into the heavenly kingdom. As we know, he was beatified by Pope Saint Paul VI in November of 1975. He was canonized in October of 1992 by another saint, Pope Saint John Paul II.

Saint Ezekiel Moreno is very beloved here in the Philippines because, as all of us know, he spent 15 years here in the Philippines. Coming from Spain in 1870, at that point he wasn't even a deacon yet. He was simply a friar, a humble brother. He was ordained a priest in 1871 in Intramuros, in the Cathedral of Manila by the Archbishop. Then he had 15 years of very fruitful ministry all over the Philippines, especially in Luzon and the Visayas; spreading the love of Christ, spreading the grace of Christ, spreading the life of Christ. That's what it means to be a missionary.

So, today I salute and I congratulate, of course, the fathers of the “first order”, we can say, the Augustinian Recollect Nuns who are in Bacolod, if I'm not mistaken, and of course all of you, the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity members. Some of whom came to the nunciature this morning to lead me in a joyful procession through the rain and the water here in Antipolo for this Holy Mass. So, the entire family of Augustinian Recollects rejoices today because we look into heaven and we see our patron there interceding for us.

Who are these Recollects? As we know, the Augustinian family has different branches. Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV is kind of in the traditional branch, the Augustinians, the OSA branch; but our wonderful saint, whom we celebrate today, is an Augustinian Recollects.

That word “recollect” is quite interesting. The Recollects were a reform of the Augustinians in the 16th century in Spain. There was the idea to bring Augustinian life back to its original purity and fervor by being men of “prayer and recollection”. That's why they're called the “Recollects”. So the idea of the recollects, really, is to be concentrated on prayer, to be recollected, to be close to the Heart of Jesus, to listen to the Heart of Jesus, to really put the primacy, that means, put the first place on the interior life.

Because of course, as missionaries, and that's true for all of us in the chapel this morning, whether we're the father and mother of a family, whether we're an Augustinian Recollect going out somewhere as a missionary, whether we're a papal nuncio, WE can only give what we have.

We need to be close to the Lord.

We need to prioritize our spiritual lives.

We need to open our hearts to the love of Jesus.

To allow Him to speak to us, allow Him to reveal Himself to us.

To put the spiritual life first.

Then everything else follows from that. For close to the Lord, everything else will follow. So that's really what it means to be an Augustinian Recollect. It means to be recollected next to the heart of Jesus, to love the Lord, to listen to the Lord, to prioritize the interior life, the spiritual life, because that is the foundation. That is, we can say, the sustenance of our missionary work. We cannot give what we do not have.

So, brothers and sisters, today on this Feast of Saint Ezekiel Moreno, we look at him and we see a man who was an amazing missionary. First here in the Philippines, then briefly in Spain, then to Colombia, then back to Spain at the end of his life, a missionary bishop in Spain. 

All of that missionary fruitfulness came because he knew the Lord. He saw Jesus. He was close to Jesus, and Jesus began to radiate His life, the life of Jesus, in and through Saint Ezekiel Moreno.

There's that beautiful line of Saint Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12, where Saint Paul writes, “For I know whom I have believed”, or we can also maybe translate it, “I know the one in whom I have believed.” “Scio enim cui credidi…” in Latin. “I know the one in whom I have believed.”

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So, we have this idea of belief, of faith, right? Which is kind of the first step to believing in Jesus, to know that He is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,” and He loves you with an infinite love. Then, not only to believe, but to know Him, to know Him.

The classic definition of Theology, and those of you recollects who are studying theology know this, is “fides quaerens intellectum”, “faith seeking understanding”. When we're in love, we want to know the one whom we love. We want to know about them. Faith is the first step: believing in Jesus; but then we want to know Him. How do we come to know Him? We come to know Him through our life of prayer and meditation, by being faithful to whatever spiritual rule or spiritual discipline we have in our lives, by speaking to Him, by listening to Him. Then, little by little, the knowledge of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, fills our minds and hearts, and we begin to radiate, even unconsciously, even without knowing it or recognizing it. We begin to radiate Jesus. We become contagious with Jesus. Because He is working in us, first through faith, but then as we come little by little, step by step, to know Him more and more through our life of prayer, through our life of spiritual discipline and spiritual meditation. That is the answer for missionary life.

It's also the answer for parents. We need to prioritize our spiritual lives. Of course, as Saint Francis de Sales tells us, the prayer life of a busy mother of a family is not the same as an Augustinian Recollect; but both need to pray. Both need to pray, so that Jesus can be in you, through you, with you, and radiate Himself through you.

Prayer takes different forms and different styles of life, but all of us are called to know the One in whom we have believed. We have believed in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and that is what the life of Saint Ezekiel Moreno shows us so beautifully. Someone who knew the Lord and who radiated His love to those around him. One who also was someone who underwent considerable sufferings in his life.

Those sufferings didn't separate him from Jesus; they actually made him realize, in a mysterious way, that Jesus was close to him, even in the midst of his sufferings. That, of course, is why he's a patron for people suffering from cancer, suffering from different types of diseases, but especially cancer.

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During this Mass, I pray and I offer this Mass for all of you, especially those of you who are suffering or struggling with any kind of illness. So that in that illness, God will show His face to you in the person of Jesus; and that God willing, He will cure you and heal you, so you will be able to proclaim the love, the power of the Lord. The Lord can do all things, but He wants us first to believe in Him, and then to seek to come to know Him more and more deeply.

So, for me as your apostolic nuncio, it's just more than wonderful to be with all of you this morning. Let's thank God for our Catholic faith.

Let's thank God also for our Augustinian Holy Father Pope Leo XIV in Rome. He comes from the same spiritual tradition as all of you, and who, in his own way, is radiated Christ for us in our own time. Saint Catherine of Siena called the Pope “the sweet Christ on earth”. We see the Holy Father, we see the representative of Christ. We see the successor of Saint Peter, one who images, who radiates Christ.

So, we pray for all your intentions. Those of you who are suffering from cancer this morning, and we entrust all of these things, of course, to the powerful and miraculous intercession of your patron, Saint Ezekiel Moreno; but also to the all holy, all beautiful Mother of God, Mary, most holy, Our Lady in heaven, who was always watching over us, always directing us, always helping us to know Jesus more and more deeply, the way she did. Showing us the face of Jesus, so that we can be the face of Jesus for the world.

May God bless each and every one of you.

Happy and blessed fiesta!

Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo

Photos by Ms. Chanda Pascua