Today, we marvel again at Christ's wit and wisdom. With his masterly response, He directly points out to the fair autonomy of the worldly realities: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar” (Mk 12:17).

Today's Word, however, is something more than knowing how to successfully get out of a conflict; it is something utterly relevant to all aspects of our life: what am I giving God? Is it really what I prize more in my life? Where did I place my heart? “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Lk 12:34).

Yes, indeed, according to St. Jerome, “you must necessarily render unto Caesar the coin in his image; but you willingly give your best to God, because it is his image, not Caesar's, that is on us.” Throughout his life, Jesus Christ constantly poses the matter of choice. It is up to us to choose, and our options are clear: either we choose the worldly values to live by or we decide to live by the Gospel's values.

It is always a time for choice before us, a time for conversion, a time to “replace” our life again in the dynamics of God. Our prayer, and especially the prayer made by God's Word, will gradually reveal to us what God expects of us. He who opts for God becomes God's dwelling place, for “whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23). And prayer becomes the true school where, as Tertulian says, “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself declared what he was, what he had been, how he was carrying out his Father’s will, what obligations he demanded of men.” If only we would succeed in choosing the right way that suits us!