Q: I want to spread the word of God daily, but I have a lot of fear that results in my anxiety. I’ve started small by putting on my account in Discord (a social media website), “Thank God for another day.” I think that’s good, but should I do more? How much should I do? I can’t keep letting my spirit of fear hang onto me. I’m ready to break out! Any advice? – Joshua
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: It’s great that you want to spread the Word of God.
You speak of your fears and anxiety. That might be an issue that needs deeper attention than can be offered through an e-mail.
For now, let’s focus on your desire to evangelize.
Here you want to remember that it’s the Holy Spirit who does the heavy work. The Spirit works best when he has something to work with.
In practice that means you need to cultivate a solid prayer life and sacramental life.
Also crucial is to form yourself. That is, learn your faith well. This won’t happen overnight, but with a plan you can progress steadily.
A few suggestions:
Read the Youth Catechism (YouCat) and/or the Compendium of the Catechism and/or the Catechism itself.
Make Scripture reading a part of each day. You might begin with the Gospels and the other books of the New Testament, then work your way through the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament.
Worthwhile biblical resources include Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” videos (on YouTube) and Jeff Cavins’ Bible Timeline.
A fine resource for apologetics questions is the Catholic Answers site. Another site worth considering is that of St. Paul Street Evangelization.
Also, tune in to Catholic radio. Let Church teaching seep into your bones. Then it will be easier and more natural for you to share the faith.
Start doing some or all these steps, and the Spirit will guide you down the path of evangelization. Count on my prayers.