Every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And so does yours.
It’s easy to forget that we’re not just characters in a grand narrative—we’re living it. Our lives have chapters. Turning points. Setbacks. Growth. And sometimes the hardest thing to recognize is where exactly we are in the story.
Maybe you're not where you want to be. But you're also not where you used to be. That matters. That’s movement. That’s grace at work.
And the same is true for the people around us.
It’s easy to look at someone who seems to be “at the beginning”—someone unsure of how to dress for Mass, unfamiliar with prayers and devotions, or still figuring out how to live the faith—and to judge them. To think, they’re not doing it right.
But that’s not how stories work. You don’t criticize the hero before he becomes the hero. You don’t write off Peter the fisherman before Pentecost.
You hope for them. You walk with them. You rejoice when they grow.
And we’re all somewhere along that same path. Still learning. Still being formed. Still becoming.
So let’s extend the kind of grace we’ve needed—and still need. Because God is patient with us, and we’re called to be patient with one another.
After all, the story isn’t over yet.