Spiritual suppleness and elasticity can be preserved, even deepened, if it is regularly saturated in prayer and reading of the Bible, rubbed in deep by the sacraments of Eucharist and Confession. Souls don’t need to be old to be dry and brittle.

Jesus never did, and still doesn’t, have a problem with a spirituality based on close reading of the Bible and earnest prayer based on that close reading. He has a problem with people not doing that enough.