Action cures anxiety (an excerpt from Catholic Manhood substack)

Worrying Doesn’t Work. Do This Instead
Sep 02, 2026

This past Sunday, our deacon gave a homily regarding God and Mammon. Some of his words have stayed with me through the week and I wish to unpack them here. He said something to the effect that men who are inclined to control their environment, view the uncertainties of life as a threat, not simply an inconvenience. Throughout my life, I have very much fallen into this camp. I have viewed such uncertainties as something to be managed meticulously. Those uncertainties must be planned around, worried into submission and eliminated.

The homily’s main message (or perhaps simply what I drew from it) was the same question Christ asked on the mount in so many words. “How’s that working for you?”

In truth, it is not working and has never worked for anyone.

You Cannot Worry Your Way to Peace
Christ didn’t say worry was simply unpleasant. He said it was utterly useless.

“And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?”
- Matthew 6:27

To put this into perspective, no man, in the history of the world has ever extended life, solved his problem, protected his family or improved his circumstances in any way by worrying. Worrying is simply an illusion of control. You may feel like you are doing something productive, but ultimately it accomplishes nothing and frankly, usually it weakens your body too.

Sitting down, worrying about every catastrophe that could befall you is not the same as preparing for your future. Worrying is simply unchristian. I have had to come to grips with this myself and only now am I beginning to accept it. For the good of your body, mind and soul, you cannot steal from the present by borrowing misery from tomorrow that may or may not even take place.

That thing you have spent the last few days, or weeks afraid of either does not come to pass or it comes at you in an extremely different manner than you feared. And yet, you survived; you have no other option right?


It’s a Control Problem:
Small distinction, but an important one; the need to fully control your environment doesn’t make you a strong man, it confirms your weaknesses. You are frightened, not in control. A need of control does not come from confidence, it comes from the absence of trust. This is why I maintain that worry, even though I am a man impacted by such thoughts, is unchristian. To worry means to subconsciously say to oneself that God cannot be relied upon. A man tries to be a god and wonders where the exhaustion is stemming from.

To be fair, there are things within our control and things outside of it. Just because something is outside of your control does not mean it is outside of God’s. Whatever you may think in the moment, God is not indifferent to your situation. The Church teaches this. God is a Father. He knows all the hairs on our head.

Worry is not the answer and never has been. It has always been trust in God.

The saints lived in the real life circumstances of their time and faced real suffering, in much worse physical conditions than what we enjoy today. They all arrived at the same conclusions about worrying.

When a man’s heart is in unsettled over things outside of his control, the room for God in it shrinks. Such worry chokes out prayer. How can we hear His voice when our hearts are not quiet enough to listen?

Padre Pio’s famous quote was not “Pray and manage your anxiety.”

Pray. Hope. Don’t worry.

Creature Comforts
Men, the Cross was not comfortable. Christ did not promise us comfort. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. This is what you signed up for. Christ promised them a cross of their own and if carried, a crown. The servant is not greater than the Master and our Master was crucified.

If we build our interior life around the avoidance of discomfort and uncertainty, that house is built on sand. Suffering will definitely come to us all, it is unavoidable. Worrying is incompatible with our Faith.





As Catholic men, we are not called to live a comfortable life, we are called to a holy one. We were made for greatness.

The Cross was certainly not comfortable. What makes you think we are supposed to be?

I do not mean to sound callous or unsympathetic. I am simply trying to add clarity. We have to make peace with the fact that our lives will include suffering and things that are outside of our control. With this clarity, man is free.

A man should act and lead. To embody those actions, a man does those in times of suffering and uncertainty. What a man cannot do is be paralyzed by fear and worry. A man of God is not passive, but one who understands which battles to fight for God and which ones God will fight for him.

The Catholic man serves God and God has told us in plain language that worry is useless.

Trust in Him is truly the only thing that actually works.

Nick | Catholic Manhood