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Recently, I started going to the 8:30 Rosary before the 9:00 AM mass with my girlfriend. It's something that she had always wanted to do, and I was hoping the time and silence would deepen my connection with God and help enrich the experience of the mass. Now for me, this is a bigger deal than you might imagine. I'm not a morning person. I'd more likely go to mass at 9:00 PM than 9:00 AM.

Now the first few weeks we did this, it went okay but not great. Not only did I struggle getting out of bed in the morning, but my prayer didn't feel fruitful because I was tired and not fully engaged. I didn't feel like I was giving God my best, so I thought maybe we shouldn't go to the rosary before mass.

Then one Sunday after the rosary, an older lady came over to us and looked at us and said, "I can't tell you what it means to have two young people here praying with us older folks before mass. Thank you." I immediately looked at my girlfriend and said, "Wow, that was clearly God speaking through her, and now we have no choice but to be here at 8:30 to pray before mass every week." My girlfriend smiled and so did I. I didn't know that I needed it, but God reminded me in that moment that excellence is about progress not perfection.