BREATH OF SPIRITUAL LIFE
We saw how
prayer of the heart is nourished by short prayers, is unceasing and
all-inclusive. These three characteristics show how the prayer of the heart is
the breath of the spiritual life and of all ministries. We can indeed say that
this prayer, as I described it, is not simply an important activity we should
not forget, but the very center of the new life which we want to represent and
to which we want to introduce our people.
It is clear from the characteristics of the
prayer of the heart that they ask for a very concrete discipline. To live a
prayerful life we cannot do without concrete prayers. We need to say them in
such a way that we can listen better to the spirit praying in us, and we need
to continue to include in that prayer all people with and for whom we live and
work.
This
discipline will help us to move away from a dividing, distracting, fragmentary
and often frustrating ministry towards an uniting, integrating, holistic and
very gratifying ministry. It will make ministry not easy but simple. It will
make it not sweet and pious, but very spiritual.
It will make
it not without its many pains and struggles, but nevertheless restful in the
true hesychastic sense.
