Even missionaries need holidays
18.08.2009
Fr John Hegerty read the newspaper over a cuppa tea, then wrote this article.
At the end of January I shared in the Annual Mass, meeting and lunch of the Kyneton Marist Brothers Old Boys Association in Victoria. I try to do this every three years when I am home on holidays from Peru. It is one of the ways I find of standing firmly on family ground again, of getting my bearings and recharging my batteries. I was invited during the Mass to share something of what we Columbans are doing in Peru. I shared some of the successes and recommended that they read our magazine The Far East for further information. Here I would like to share some of the ways I touch base with my Australian roots while I am home on holidays. I enjoyed Christmas in Benalla with my sister and brother and their families. There was plenty of laughter, ragging, photographs and fine food. I went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the fourth day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa. I was there with 42,000 other losers but 'Bay 13' kept the event alive. Another must for the returned missionary is the medical checkups in an effort to keep ageing parts functioning as well as possible for the next three years back in Lima. Add to this the luxury of reading the daily paper from cover to cover over a long cuppa, knowing that the only time demands are the next TV program I want to watch or the next train I want to catch. I went to Melbourne Park for the first two days of the Australian Tennis Open in stifling heat in the hope of catching a glimpse of Rafael Nadal and the other stars. I was lucky to see him play. I hope some of his talent sticks to me when I return to Lima. I am always helped by a week 'in the desert' doing a retreat at Shoreham, Campion House at Kew or Douglas Park. This year I had a retreat at Campion House on the subject of the final meditation in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius: the Contemplation to Attain Love. It proved to be a revelation and a half! One of the best re-charging agents for me is the testimony of family and friends: one, who for health reasons was big enough to sell his business and then work for the new boss; another in his late 60s has just finished a doctoral thesis on ethics in the market place (maybe 12 months too late); a retired friend divides his time and energies between his grandchildren and promoting the projects of Caritas. Then there are those flood victims in Ingham, Queensland who donated their relief cheques to the fire victims in Victoria saying that they were much more in need. Add the opportunity of sampling local beers like Little Creatures when I was visiting my family in Western Australia; local wines like Tabilk with friends near Nagambie, Victoria; experience a game of Aussie Rules in Perth in the preliminary competition and take in the Degas Exhibition at the National Gallery, Canberra when I visited a former classmate there. And of course I will have a few days at the beach. I am grateful for these days of blessing at home in Australia. Fr John Hegerty was involved in the spiritual formation of students in Sydney and Lima. At present he is the Vice-Director of the Region of Peru.
