Well, not a ‘pep talk’ but I’ll tell you when our little group started doing this some people felt as you do. Questions like: What is is, will it take too much time, what if I don’t believe all of it, understand all of it, can’t finish the book, etc.
You don’t have to do anything, you really don’t even need to make a commitment. Just go one day at a time. Some people have started and quit and then picked it up and done it completely in another cycle.
If you are even REMOTELY INTRIQUED, and sounds like you are, get the materials and just begin, and trust you’ll be lead in the best direction. If you decide to wait, you have the books and they will attract you at the right time for you.
I’m not a very “holy” person or religious myself, the article makes this sound like something almost mystical, and for some it could be, but it will be just exactly what you need for who you are. It’s a very personal process, it’s mostly prayers, and so Mary touches each person as needed for his/her individual path to more deeply know Christ.
I have all the spiritual sensitivity of a cast-iron Clydeside boiler . . . but I knows my duty.