195
activity.
205
Without prolonged moments of ad-
oration, of prayerful encounter with the word,
of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work
easily becomes meaningless; we lose energy as a
result of weariness and difficulties, and our fer-
vour dies out. The Church urgently needs the
deep breath of prayer, and to my great joy groups
devoted to prayer and intercession, the prayerful
reading of Godâs word and the perpetual adora-
tion of the Eucharist are growing at every level
of ecclesial life. Even so, âwe must reject the
temptation to offer a privatized and individualis-
tic spirituality which ill accords with the demands
of charity, to say nothing of the implications of
the incarnationâ.
206
There is always the risk that
some moments of prayer can become an excuse
for not offering oneâs life in mission; a privat-
ized lifestyle can lead Christians to take refuge in
some false forms of spirituality.
263.âWe do well to keep in mind the early Chris-
tians and our many brothers and sisters through-
out history who were filled with joy, unflagging
courage and zeal in proclaiming the Gospel.
Some people nowadays console themselves by
saying that things are not as easy as they used
to be, yet we know that the Roman empire was
not conducive to the Gospel message, the strug-
gle for justice, or the defence of human dignity.
205
âCf.
Propositio
36.
206
âJ
ohn
P
aul
II, Apostolic Letter
Novo Millennio Ineunte
(6
January 2001), 52: AAS 93 (2001), 304.
