a) What is generosity with our friends?
Generosity with our friends means being ready to help them anytime—to assist them, teach them new things, accompany them, lend them something, encourage them, keep them away from harm, etc. Generosity includes not only granting their request for assistance, but being sensitive to their needs, to help them even before they ask for it, and at times, without their knowing it.
By serving Christ in every person we meet, we follow Christ’s example of generosity and humility. As we cultivate our talents through study and hard work, we become more ready to help others. All this we do out of love, without expecting to be praised or thanked, or to receive anything in return.
b) How do we live generosity with our friends?
The first step is to pray for our family and friends. Prayer is a very direct and effective means of helping others because we get to know their needs better, and we ask God, Creator and Lord of all things, to assist them. The second step is to offer our sacrifices and difficulties to God for them. The third step is to help them actively, either verbally or physically.
Being generous is an automatic consequence of prayer and sacrifice, a sort of an “overflow” of our interior life. The Golden Rule tells us to do unto others what we would like them to do unto us. If we always follow it, we will surely acquire the virtue of generosity.