Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
~ Pope Leo made news earlier this month by going to Castel Gandolfo for a few weeks of vacation. Castel Gandolfo is a hilltop city outside Rome, used for centuries as a summer retreat for Popes. This really wouldn’t be news except that Pope Francis did not spend time at Castel Gandolfo, preferring to have “working vacations” at the Vatican. I’ll admit, as much as I love Pope Francis, never taking any time off is not a good thing for body or spirit! For most people, summer is more relaxed and a time for vacation. So let’s look at what some of our recent popes had to say about summer, vacations, and holidays. (This is excerpted from an article from Vatican News, by Amedeo Lomonaco, published on July 8, 2025.)
Paul VI: Holidays are for reading, discovering and friendships
In 1973, Pope Paul VI explained what he thought this period of rest should look like: “Let us ensure that this free time, which we call vacation, is not entirely spent in dissipation or selfishness. Relaxation, refreshment, recreation, yes, but intelligent and vigilant.”
The Pope suggested catching up on “serious readings” that may have been put aside during the year, or partaking in “excursions” to discover “the beautiful treasures” of history and art.
He also highlighted that “holidays are a privileged time for good friendships, for getting to know places, customs, the needs of the people we do not usually approach, and for meeting new people worthy of our conversation.”
John Paul II: Meetings and encounters essential to vacations
Holidays are an opportunity to live serene moments. Pope John Paul II, who loved spending rest periods in the mountains, often emphasized that to regenerate themselves, people need harmony and the joy of meeting with others.
“For a vacation to be truly such and bring genuine well-being, in it a person must recover a good balance with himself, with others and with the environment”, St. John Paul II said. He added that it “is this interior and exterior harmony which revitalizes the mind and reinvigorates body and spirit.”
For John Paul II, “one of the values of a holiday” is meeting others and spending time “in an unselfish way, for the pleasure of friendship and for sharing quiet moments together.”
Benedict XVI: In nature, man rediscovers himself
For Pope Benedict XVI, it is vital to immerse oneself in nature, especially for “those who dwell in cities where the often frenzied pace of life leaves little room for silence and reflection.”
In 2005, at Les Combes, in the Aosta Valley mountains in northern Italy, he highlighted “the need to be physically and mentally replenished” through a “relaxing contact with nature.”
“Moreover, holidays are days on which we can give even more time to prayer, reading and meditation on the profound meaning of life in the peaceful context of our own family and loved ones.”
Francis: Deepening one’s spiritual journey through vacations
Pope Francis emphasized that holidays can also be a good time to deepen one’s spiritual journey, even while traveling between tourist destinations.
“Summer season is a providential time to cultivate our task of seeking and encountering the Lord,” he underlined. In this “period of rest and disengagement from daily activities, we can reinforce our strengths of body and soul.”
He also encouraged the faithful to entrust their holidays to the Virgin Mary, so she can help them “be in harmony with the Word of God, so that Christ may become light and lodestar throughout our life.”
He especially urged all to entrust to her “the summer of those who cannot go on holiday due to impediments of age, to reasons of health or of work, to economic restrictions or other problems, so that it may be a time of eased tension, gladdened by the presence of friends and of happy moments.”