It is the lack of this awareness that leads to discouragement and sterility. Among the obstacles to the new evangelization is the lack of joy and hope that such situations generate and spread among the people of our times. Often this lack of joy and hope is so strong that it destroys the very fabric of our Christian communities. In these contexts, the new evangelization is to be not an obligation, an additional burden that must be borne, but a remedy that is able to restore joy and life, those realities that are prisoners of their fears.