{"id":5226,"date":"2005-07-18T01:15:24","date_gmt":"2005-07-18T01:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2005\/07\/the-pope-told-me-to-take-a-vacation.html"},"modified":"2005-07-18T01:15:24","modified_gmt":"2005-07-18T01:15:24","slug":"the-pope-told-me-to-take-a-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2005\/07\/the-pope-told-me-to-take-a-vacation.html","title":{"rendered":"The Pope told me to take a vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whose boss will argue with that?<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Dear Brothers and Sisters! <\/p>\n

I have been here for a few days, in the marvelous mountains of Val d’Aosta, where the memory is still alive of my beloved predecessor John Paul II, who for several years spent brief relaxing and invigorating stays here. <\/p>\n

This summer pause is a truly providential gift of God, after the first months of the demanding pastoral service<\/em><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

that Divine Providence has entrusted to me. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the bishop of Aosta, esteemed Monsignor Giuseppe Anfossi, and to all those who made it possible, as well as to those who with discretion and generous abnegation see to it that everything runs smoothly. Moreover, I am also grateful to the local population and to the tourists, for their cordial welcome. <\/em><\/p>\n

In the world in which we live, it is almost a necessity to be able to regain one’s strength of body and spirit, especially for those who live in the city, where the conditions of life, often feverish, leave little room for silence, reflection and relaxed contact with nature. <\/em><\/p>\n

Holidays are, moreover, days in which more time can be dedicated to prayer, reading and meditation on the profound meaning of life, in the peaceful context of one’s family and loved ones. <\/em><\/p>\n

Vacation time offers the unique opportunity to pause before the thought-provoking spectacles of nature, a wonderful "book" within reach of everyone, adults and children. In contact with nature, a person rediscovers his correct dimension, rediscovers himself as a creature, small but at the same time unique, with a "capacity for God" because interiorly he is open to the Infinite. Driven by his heartfelt urgent search for meaning, he perceives in the surrounding world the mark of goodness and Divine Providence and opens almost naturally to praise and prayer. <\/em><\/p>\n

Reciting the Angelus together in this pleasant Alpine locality, let us ask the Virgin Mary to teach us the secret of the silence that becomes praise, of recollection that disposes to meditation, of love of nature that blossoms in thanksgiving to God. We will thus be able to receive more easily in our hearts the light of Truth and practice it in freedom and love. <\/em><\/p>\n

[After reciting the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:] <\/em><\/p>\n

I greet the English-speaking visitors who join us for this Angelus. May the summer holidays be a time of rest and an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord in gratitude and prayer. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whose boss will argue with that? Dear Brothers and Sisters! I have been here for a few days, in the marvelous mountains of Val d’Aosta, where the memory is still alive of my beloved predecessor John Paul II, who for several years spent brief relaxing and invigorating stays here. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/author\/awelborn"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}