As Divine Word Missionaries, however, we belong to a worldwide community. While Rome experiences the heat of summer, countries in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Argentina and Chile, are in the middle of winter. There, July and August are regular working months, raising practical questions for many missionaries: When should I take my home leave? Is it better to travel when ministry in my mission country is less demanding, or when family and friends in my home country are available?

Home leave is not always a time of rest. Long journeys, jet lag, numerous visits, and mission commitments can leave some missionaries returning more tired than refreshed. Yet rest and recreation remain essential. When neglected, our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being can suffer.

Healthy forms of recreation—such as physical activity, time in nature, community life, and prayer—offer lasting renewal. Excessive media consumption and constant internet browsing often add fatigue rather than relieve it. Visiting SVD communities in one’s own or neighboring provinces can strengthen our sense of belonging to the Society. Exploring places important to the history and culture of our mission country can also combine rest with ongoing formation.

Our founder, St. Arnold Janssen, clearly recognized the importance of caring for one’s health. Writing to St. Joseph Freinademetz in China on July 25, 1905, he expressed concern about his well-being and urged him to take the necessary measures to preserve his health, warning that the premature loss of an experienced missionary would be a great loss to the mission.

SVD history also offers cautionary examples. According to historical accounts, Fr. Nikolaus Blum, who succeeded Arnold Janssen as Superior General in 1909, did not take a vacation for 30 years and died at the age of 62. Pope Francis, meanwhile, was known for remaining at the Vatican during the summer rather than taking extended vacations. Pope Leo XIV has renewed the use of Castel Gandolfo as a place of rest and retreat.

Pope Francis reflected deeply on the value of rest in Laudato Si’. Rest is part of God’s design for creation. God rested on the seventh day, and the Sabbath was given as a gift not only to people but also to animals and even to the land itself (cf. LS 71). Although Sunday is often a busy day for those engaged in pastoral ministry, it remains a day intended to renew our relationship with God, ourselves, others, and creation (cf. LS 237).

The encyclical warns against reducing life to constant activity. It reminds us that contemplation gives meaning to work and protects us from empty activism, isolation, and self-centeredness. True rest is not inactivity but a receptive openness that allows God to renew us from within.

Some may view relentless work and self-sacrifice as signs of dedication. Yet Arnold Janssen warned against such an attitude. In 1906 he wrote to Fr. Richarz in the United States: “Work is good; but working too much, so that one’s health suffers and one needs sleeping pills, is not good.” He consistently encouraged missionaries to balance work with prayer, rest, and spiritual renewal.

A valuable opportunity for this renewal is found in the regular spiritual gatherings and annual retreats prescribed by our Constitutions (Const. 409). These moments invite us to pause, gather ourselves in prayer, and draw strength from God. They also challenge us to ask whether we truly make time for this grace-filled renewal or allow it to be consumed by other obligations we consider more urgent.

From time to time, each of us would do well to revisit this question.

The Generalate Leadership Team.