The week of December 10th – During the month of December, your family will focus on the virtue of generosity. Each week you will gather together and reflect on how you can make a difference to someone else by being generous. Find a time this week to gather as a family, say a prayer, read or listen to a prompt, respond as a family to what you have heard and then act on the suggestion for the week.
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December Virtue Generosity: making someone’s day by giving something away
What is a virtue? A virtue is something that God does in us to change the world around us.
GATHER together in prayer
LISTEN through scripture; readings; stories; music; videos
RESPOND to what you have heard
ACT in service to what God is calling you to
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GATHER
Gather together as a family and pray this prayer:
Do Generous Things
(The Anglican Church of New Zealand, New Zealand Prayer Book, page 141)
Almighty God,
You give seed for us to sow,
and bread for us to eat;
make us thankful for what we have received;
make us rich to do those generous things
which supply your people’s needs;
so all the world may give you thanks and glory.
This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LISTEN
Watch this YouTube video (You Can Be a Hero Too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5UBikauIQM
RESPOND
Generosity is making someone’s day by giving something away. As a family, talk about the video you watched. Here are some questions you can use to prompt your discussion (or come up with your own questions):
What is this person’s attitude about generosity?
Do you think he can afford to be generous?
How do the people around him reaction to his generosity?
Does he expect to get something in return for his generosity?
Does he get something in return? What?
Can you imagine yourself doing what he does? Why or why not?
ACT
Generosity involves being aware of the needs all around us. This week pay attention to what is happening around you. Try to notice if there are opportunities to be generous in some way. As a family, start making a list of what you discover. Talk about it over dinner or in the car or as you’re doing your Christmas shopping. Talk about anything you find that is surprising or unexpected. Keep the list on your refrigerator and add to it all week long.
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Food for Thought – Quotes about gratitude
Today, give yourself permission to be outrageously kind, irrationally warm, improbably generous. I promise it will be a blast. Sasha Dicter – Acumen Fund on Generosity Day
Give yourself entirely to those around you. Be generous with your blessings. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. Steve Maraboli
That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing. Simone De Beauvoir