There is a story of a little girl who had two apples. Her mum asked, “Can I have one?” The girl quickly took a bite out of both apples, and her mum thought, this girl doesn’t want to give me any, that is why she’s taking a bite out of the two. Then the little girl stretched out one apple and said, “Take, mum, here is the sweeter one.”

Having a spirit of service means forgetting about “me” for a second. It is a call to generosity, because we cannot really serve if we are not generous.

Peter had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Then Jesus came along and asked to use his boat. Imagine being Peter: you are tired, hungry, and disappointed, and this man, who is a stranger, more or less, wants to use your boat to teach a crowd you probably don’t even like. But Peter still says yes. He goes beyond his own worries to help someone else. After teaching, Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Put out into the deep.” Peter obeys, and his nets are suddenly overflowing with fish and his life changes forever.

When we take care of God’s things, He takes care of ours, and in the process, we realise that the things we thought mattered so much may not even be worth much. After that miracle, Peter leaves all the fish behind (the very thing he had toiled for all night!) and follows Jesus. His reward wasn’t the fish; it was a new heart. A heart capable of more. Peter went from worrying about fish to becoming the rock on which the Church was built.

The reward for generosity is not always a net full of fish. And let’s be honest... it most likely won’t be the seat of Peter. It’s something else: a magnanimous heart. That’s a heart that is so broad, it’s capable of reaching farther. A heart so big, it can expand to contain happiness enough to enliven everything it touches and everyone it meets. A heart that mirrors that of God. Only generous hearts can take risks for God. And if we do not take risks for God, we can never truly do anything great for Him.

Blessed Guadalupe Ortiz de Landazuri’s father was imprisoned during the Spanish Civil War and sentenced to be shot. She and her brother, in his last hours, tried to comfort him, but he ended up comforting them instead. Even in the face of death, her father was generous. And Guadalupe, carrying that same spirit, forgave those who executed her father. That’s generosity too: forgiving even when it’s not asked for.

Generosity opens our hearts to love. These acts of service are not just for others. First of all, they are for us, because hearts that know how to give themselves are the happiest, and God wants us to be happy.

This virtue isn’t about how much you have: it’s about how much of yourself you give. It isn’t just about doing, but about being disposed to do, to look at others and ask, “What can I offer?”

Sometimes, that means giving things: your lunch, your time, your money. Other times, it’s something else.

It’s forgiving before the person even asks. It can look like offering your younger sister the first pick of the new T-shirts, even though you were told to pick first. It’s helping your brother with homework, even when no one is helping you with yours. It’s choosing to make excuses for people instead of judging them. It’s thinking well of people. To be generous with our hearts, we must also be generous with our thoughts.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry hides a sock in the book Malfoy’s father gives Dobby the house-elf, to trick him into giving Dobby something personal and freeing the elf. It was a small spontaneous act, and Harry didn’t do it for himself. Later, Dobby gives his life for Harry. That’s the ripple effect of generosity. It always multiplies.

St. Josemaria used to say we should help people in such a way that they don’t even realise we are helping them. Our lives should be filled with many moments in which we hand out “here’s the sweeter one” gestures to people.

The result of our generosity is that we become rocks: solid foundations that Jesus can build stuff on, a rock of love that others can lean on. So maybe today, ask yourself: What am I giving? What part of myself can I share a little more right now?

Because in the end, the world is so much bigger than what happens to you. And your generous, magnanimous, capable heart is made for so much more.