Trusting God comes easy for those who do it often and prepares them for the most difficult times.

“Children like olive plants around your table” may sound like a modern nightmare. Who can afford to feed, house, clothe, and educate the huge Catholic families of yesteryear? Yet the psalmist presents the wisdom of the ages when he reveals that wealth is not in what we carry in our wallets today but in how thoroughly we invest resources in the future.

“It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave 5,000 dollars, to another 2,000, to a third 1,000, depending on their abilities.

My friend Brian is an engineer and inventor. His inventions have run the gamut from the magnificent—an elliptical receiver sent into space—to the mundane—a clip-on shelf for a recreational vehicle. He is also a university professor, teaching young engineers how to be ethical entrepreneurs.

We ask to be made good and faithful servants.

Fear only two: God, and the man who has no fear of God.