God is Love
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
may the peace of the Lord always be with us.
The month of August, which in some countries is a symbol of summer and the annual holiday season, is instead dedicated in the Catholic Church to God the Father, Creator of the world.
This does not mean that the other months do not belong to Him, but in August, in particular, we want to take the opportunity to speak directly, heart to heart, with our Heavenly Father.
In some human religions, God is seen as distant from His people, severe and unreachable. On the contrary, in the Holy Scriptures we find:
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
(1 John 4:8)
God is not far from us:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16)
And how can we draw closer to God?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Matthew 22:37–39)
Everything is based on love, and as a fundamental rule, we can say that anything that is not love does not come from God. Every time we fail to love our neighbour, we fail to love God.
There are situations that are sometimes difficult to accept: at work, within our families, and even among strangers. How can we truly love everyone?
Let us use the practical tool that Jesus taught us: prayer.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
(Matthew 5:44)
In other words, we do not repay evil with evil, but we break the chain used by the evil one through the love of God, which has been given to us and which we are called to spread throughout the world.
Saint Augustine, whose feast we celebrate on August 28, said:
“Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”
157th International Prayer Marathon
God is Love
August 29, 30 and 31, 2026
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