Jesus gives some practical and divinely wise advice today in the Gospel at Mass, wise enough to get Him out of an almost inescapable trap set by the Pharisees: “Give to God what belongs to God, and to Ceasar what belongs to Caesar.”

Inherent in this is the ability to discern what, in fact, does belong to God as opposed to Caesar–to this world and its rulers.

God must own our hearts, minds, and souls. He must solely own our worship.

Jesus must be the king of our lives, of every aspect of our lives. His kingdom is not of this world, and Caesar can claim a subordinate position and what is honestly due to him. That’s fine.

But when Caesar starts claiming what is not his–our worship, our allegiance to the point of sin, the minds and hearts of our children–we must spiritually resist at whatever cost to ourselves. When Caesar starts pumping in entertainment that is basically pornography, we must not engage in it. When Caesar calls morals bigotry, we cannot cease being moral. When Caesar calls indisputable truth bigotry, we cannot deny truth.

That is what truly is owed to God.