MFP 366: God is Love

Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

Mike and Alicia Hernon : Catholic Marriage Parent and Family

Parenting, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Kids & Family

4.9 • 841 Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Love of neighbor is a path that leads to the encounter with God… closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God."
- Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love

Summary

We begin with Love because marriage flows from our deepest identity and relationships, not just spousal dynamics. Created in the image of a loving, Triune God, we must first ask who God is and who we are in His eyes. Our relationship with God and with ourselves forms the foundation for loving others. Pope Benedict XVI's God Is Love reveals that eros and agape are inseparable dimensions of love: we are made to give and receive love. God's passionate, faithful love for His people—fulfilled fully in Jesus—becomes the model for marriage. In Christ, love of God and love of neighbor are one reality. Our first neighbor is our spouse, and loving them faithfully is the primary path to holiness and authentic love.

Key Takeaways

Love begins with God, not marriage
Before focusing on spousal relationships, we must understand who God is and who we are in His eyes. Our identity as loved by God is the foundation for all love.
You cannot love others without loving God and yourself rightly
Knowing and receiving God's love allows us to love ourselves truthfully, which is necessary to love anyone else authentically.
Eros and agape belong together
Human desire (eros) is not bad; it is purified and fulfilled by God's unconditional love (agape). Love requires both giving and receiving.
God's passionate love is revealed fully in Jesus
Christ embodies God's self-giving love and draws us into communion—with God and with others—especially through the Eucharist.
Marriage is the primary place love is lived
Spouses are each other's first neighbors. Loving one's spouse faithfully is the clearest expression of love of God and the path to holiness.

Resources:

Pdf of encyclical: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html

Join the Cana90 Fellowship: https://messyfamilyproject.org/programs/cana90/fellowship-form/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Family, all in this together.
0:08.2	Family, we're taking a chance.
0:10.8	Family, like birds of a feather.
0:13.3	Family, you got my shoes and dance.
0:15.4	Hey, we are Mike and Alicia Hernin.
0:17.4	We have 10 kids and grandkids too, and we are here for every parent. Because we are on a
0:22.2	mission to empower moms and dads to embrace their sacred calling. So join the conversation.
0:28.0	We are so glad that you joined us in this. It's still the new year, right? You know, January,
0:38.0	we're still counting this so happy belated new year. Uh, the last podcast, we apologized for being busy in the
0:46.2	new year, right? And I'm like, wasn't that a commitment we made to not be busy? Uh, but,
0:51.2	but I'm glad. Some things you can't control though, you know, life happens, right? I did. And I think we said this last one. So I ended up being repeating myself. But I felt like it was nonstop from pre Christmas through to. And you know what? I should mention our daughter. One of the reasons that we were busy at the beginning of January is it's our daughter, Mora, had a baby. Yeah. So it's our ninth grandchild, Theodore, and we are just so
1:17.9	excited. I is a beautiful baby. Just, I was able to- The pictures look good, but I'm going to go see
1:22.8	him soon. Exactly. Yeah, Papa hasn't seen him in person yet, so he's going to go see him. But I was
1:27.3	able to be there with him and my daughter and son-in-law. It was beautiful, beautiful time. But it, you know, it took time to be there for a couple days and be with them and not record a podcast. So I think that's a pretty good reason. That was a very good reason.
1:46.4	Then being in the Bahamas was another reason.
1:47.6	In the Hamas is a good reason.
1:48.5	Yeah, that's right.
1:53.3	Well, what was kind of just trailing from the Bahamas,
1:58.8	one of the things that we unpacked on the Catholic couples getaway was part of,
1:59.0	not, but interspersed it within a talk we had already kind of structured was
2:03.4	something we have been doing in our married couples group. We've been a part of a group for
2:09.0	the last three years called Teams of Our Lady, which is an international movement.
	...

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