A day before officiating a wedding, my child care plans fell through.

After calling my usual babysitters, who by that time were booked, I made a frantic call to my sister, who graciously dropped her plans and came over to watch the toddler.

So you can imagine, a week later, when the phone rang, and my sister asked if I would do her a favor, that I would pretty much do anything she asked. I would have cleaned out her garage, made her a three course dinner, taken the trash out for 2 months, or emptied the cat litter until Christmas.

The point is that generosity begets generosity.

And what we'll see in Sunday's Gospel is that God's epic generosity with us, is meant to inspire our own generosity with others.

As I am to recall the generous act of my sister dropping everything and coming to my rescue, you and I are to remember Jesus's pinnacle gifts of forgiveness, acceptance, and love for us as we consider what Jesus asks of us.

Here's a hint:

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."

Praying for those who voted differently than I did, who hold political views that I think are destroying democracy, and who exhibit greed and selfishness that oppress and abuse the most vulnerable in our society, is not easy for me - or any of us.

But what makes loving my enemy easier, is when we contemplate the forgiveness, grace, and acceptance that God has given us: How many things have we done that have offended God and our neighbors - that God has forgiven us for? How many times has God let us off the hook, come to the rescue, and accepted us with open arms when we deserve the opposite?

Friends, performing the difficult - if not impossible - task of being kind to those who are offensive, accepting of those who don’t like us, and forgiving of those who harm us - and would even do so again - is only palatable when we consider how God does this for us.

Who do we need to pray for, make peace with, and accept?

Contemplating God’s generosity can give us what we need to make that happen.