Is it a sin to not 'witness'?

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Me and a couple of my friends were having a mild religious discussion. One of my protestant friends claimed that he was not Catholic because catholics pray to Mary. I just stayed silent and let the discussion continue (there was like ten of us). It was not out of malice that I refused to explain it, but it wasn’t to keep the peace either. I just…froze. I tend to be a shy nature, and don’t express my views in person very often. I don’t know, I just get anxious when discussing my view in real life, I guess I’m afraid to step on toes, even though that thought may not be exactly logical, it’s what I feel.

Anyways, would this be a sin?
 
If you’re not confident, and unprepared, of course it’s going to be difficult to witness.

However, 1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”[131]
1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent. christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/gravity.html

You weren’t sinning against the moral law or any grave sin…it was more a weakness I would think, along with a lack of information.
As it is, you’re not yet Catholic and have still much to learn, I’m sure.
And yes, it’s hard to interact confidently when you’re shy. 🙂

You do have some responsibility to get to know the answers to these things.
We are required to witness as Jesus said after the resurrection and before the ascension. We do have a responsibility to read and know the gospels, the New Testament, and then, the Catechism of the Catholic Church…both of which are available in full online.

For instance, you can witness from the gospel regarding Mary as intercessor.
At the Wedding feast of Cana, ( John 1:1-12) Mary made a polite and slightly indirect request of Jesus to save face for the hosts. The event was almost out of wine.
Jesus replied basically that it wasn’t time for signs and whatever, but Mary quietly told the servants to do whatever He asked them to…she trusted He would heed her request, her intercession for the hosts. And He did, even though it wasn’t yet the time for miracles.

You see He overrode that objection to answer her courteous and respectful prayer/plea as she drew His attention to the problem.
You can’t go better than the bible for demonstrating truths to our Protestant brothers and sisters!

If Jesus objected to Mary’s intercession He’d have said, 'absolutely not!", but no, He gave into her untimely request…because He loves His mother so much!

You have a sincere heart it is evident, and hopefully, with time, you will have the courage you wish to witness.

Jesus apostles didn’t do very well in witnessing until after the Holy Spirit came following the Jesus’ ascention into heaven. Later they did brilliantly and I pray the same for you in your own quiet way. God bless you. And please be at peace. 🙂
 
kbwall said:
Me and a couple of my friends were having a mild religious discussion. One of my protestant friends claimed that he was not Catholic because catholics pray to Mary. I just stayed silent and let the discussion continue (there was like ten of us). It was not out of malice that I refused to explain it, but it wasn’t to keep the peace either. I just…froze. I tend to be a shy nature, and don’t express my views in person very often. I don’t know, I just get anxious when discussing my view in real life, I guess I’m afraid to step on toes, even though that thought may not be exactly logical, it’s what I feel.

Anyways, would this be a sin?
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If you dont feel ready to take on a protestant, Then dont. Protestants do “know” their bibles. and if you are not careful, or understand how to counteract their arguments, or refute them, they SEEM to make alot of sense. If you dont feel ready then by all means, dont try. As a former protestant, I am comfortable taking any of them on. I am however prepared for a long drawn out debate. Its exhausting. But when it comes to Mary, I am more than willing to take them on. Or any other dogma. If you do engage, just understand, that it is going to be rough, and they are “good” at what they do. I especially like taking on two fundamentalist from 2 different camps, because that is a good opportunity to point out their lack of cohesion. And to question them on authority. Dont sweat it. Just be a good example in your daily life. that will go a long way. Peace 🙂 Oh, one more thing. They always start out mild, so does any battle line being drawn up…😉
 
1 Corinthians 3:6-8 (Good News Translation)
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.8 There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.

You like my wife who is also shy may be a water boy, let your light shine.
 
KBW, Yours was not a sin but actually a lack of confidence.

There’s a great series of FREE CDs & MP3s that can really help with this from my buddy John Martignoni (Who actually posts here on CAF a little, and is a regular on Catholic Answers Live radio.) [Free (http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/download) MP3 Downloads

Here are links to the MP3s you might find helpful.
You can also burn them to CDs and give them to wise guy friends like that. My approach is something like, “Hey, you know the other day when you made that comment about … well, I did some checking and found this that clarifies what you mentioned and I figured you might want to hear it, so…”

If they refuse, then just offer it to whoever was also there who may be more honest, but feel free to call them a chicken…😉
 
I have the same exact problem. I get really shy around people, so much so that even though I’ve been studying apologetics for months now, I start shaking and don’t know if the words will come out of my mouth. I don’t know how to cure it myself, so I imagine we should pray for confidence.

But here’s some more resources (I haven’t read all of them thoroughly, but they seem good):

fisheaters.com/responses.html
scripturecatholic.com
chnetwork.org/journals/sola/sola1.htm (through sola12.htm)
catholic.com/library/faith_tracts.asp
cin.org/users/james/files/how2purg.htm

newadvent.org/fathers/index.html
newadvent.org/cathen
 
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