How Is Your Heart? (International Community Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Church—Kolonia, Pohnpei, Micronesia)

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or our first point, let me begin with a personal experience.

Like many Filipinos, I have felt deeply disturbed by the recent revelations about corruption in government, especially the reports of ghost flood-control projects. It is difficult not to feel angry. Even more difficult is resisting the temptation to fall into despair. We see communities flooded, families losing their homes, and public funds disappearing into private pockets. We begin to ask: Will anything ever change?

While carrying these thoughts, I once heard a homily by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David that stayed with me. Reflecting on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. As Cardinal David put it, paraphrasing his words: "There is good news: we will all go to heaven like Lazarus. But there is bad news: not all of us will enjoy heaven, like the rich man, because there is hell in heaven."

Of course, he was speaking with irony. The Cardinal was using a striking and paradoxical image to make a spiritual point. The evil in the rich man's life was not his wealth but his indifference. Lazarus lay at his gate every day, and yet he never truly saw him. His corrupted heart had become numb to another person's suffering.

I think this is what frightens me most about corruption. Corruption begins long before money is stolen or laws are broken. It begins when the heart becomes unhealthy and loses its capacity for compassion. The word itself comes from the Latin corruptio, meaning "spoiling," "decay," or "a corrupt condition." Before corruption appears in public institutions, it first takes root within the human person. A person slowly becomes insensitive to the suffering of others. What is corrupted is not only a system but the heart itself.

This is why the care of the heart is so important. The battle against corruption is not only political; it is deeply spiritual. Corruption can only be be stopped when there is a true conversion of the heart. When the heart becomes blind, injustice follows. But when the heart learns to feel again, hope becomes possible.

For our second point, let us turn to the Gospel. Jesus says: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul."

What is Jesus trying to tell us? He is inviting us to ask a deeper question: How is your soul or spirit? How is your heart?

We spend much of our lives caring for our bodies, our work, our finances, and our future. But how often do we ask whether we are still spiritually healthy? Are we still walking with God, or are we slowly drifting away?

Jesus reminds us that there are things far worse than physical loss. A person can be successful and comfortable, yet be losing his or her soul. A heart can become hardened. A conscience can become numb. One can slowly lose the capacity to love, to seek truth, and to listen to God.

The health of the soul is ultimately more important than the success of the body. We must therefore guard that sacred inner place where truth, compassion, conscience, and love reside. The greatest victories and the greatest losses take place not outside of us, but within the human heart.

Finally, let us listen to what Jesus is offering us in today's Gospel.

Jesus does not condemn the desire to earn a living or to provide for one's family. He knows our needs. Many of you are here precisely because of love—for your children, your spouse, your parents, and your future. You have left home, crossed oceans, and made sacrifices so that your loved ones may have a better life. There is something noble and beautiful in that.

But Jesus also reminds us that there is something more. There is a deeper hunger in the human heart. There are things that money can buy, but there are also things that money can never buy: peace of heart, forgiveness, hope, love, meaning, and a relationship with God.

This is why we gather for the Eucharist. Again and again, Jesus offers Himself to us. He knows that while our bodies need food, our souls also need nourishment. There is a kind of strength, a kind of consolation, and a kind of hope that cannot be found in any workplace or material possession. It can only come from Him.

But Jesus also asks something of us. He says: "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."

To acknowledge Jesus does not necessarily mean through words. For many migrant workers, it means carrying your faith with you wherever you go. It means remaining honest when dishonesty is easier. It means remaining faithful to your family even when you are far away. It means continuing to pray when life becomes busy and tiring. It means remembering that your identity is not only as a worker or provider, but first as a beloved son or daughter of God.

You may be far from home, but you are never far from God. The Lord who called you, accompanies you. The Lord who nourishes you, strengthens you. And the Lord whom you acknowledge in your daily life will never fail to acknowledge you before the Father. Amen. Fr JM Manzano SJ