Welcome to the Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus!

Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

March 24, 2025

#12, Fr. John Dear in conversation with Shane Claiborne on resistance, organizing & Gospel living

“Our love doesn’t stop at our own borders.” That’s what popular speaker and author Shane Claiborne tells John Dear in this episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast.” He talks about public organizing, bold resistance, and living out the Gospel where it matters most—on the streets, in communities, and on the frontlines of change; and how we need to respond to the worsening violence, authoritarianism, white supremacy, racism, warmaking, greed, lies, and warmaking overtaking our nation and the world. 
 
We need to go where people are hurting, and serve them, and stop the pain, violence and injustice, he says. “The closer we are to the pain, the more urgently we respond to it.”
 
Shane knows a lot about living the Gospel and responding to the pain and needs of the poor. He has worked on the streets of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, spent time in Rwanda and Iraq, and journeyed with me to Kabul, Afghanistan during the war. He lives in inner-city Philadelphia with the Simple Way community serving, advocating, and organizing on the streets. His best-selling books include The Irresistible Revolution and Beating Guns: Hope for People Weary of Violence.
 
He also speaks out all over the world. A dynamic, popular speaker and activist, he is the founder of Red Letter Christians which works with thousands of young evangelicals for justice, disarmament and creation. Shane has put radical love and nonviolence into action and invites us to do the same through the testimony of his life. “Our protest is a form of liturgy,” he says. “We can bring joy in the midst of public lament.” Visit: www.redletterchristians.org Hope you feel energized by Shane’s witness for the nonviolent Jesus!

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Fr. John Dear! For more information, visit here.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

March 17, 2025

#11, Fr. John Dear in conversation with Brian McLaren on how Jesus resisted authoritarianism and how we can too

In a time of rising Christian nationalism, oligarchy, and fascism, here at home and around the world, what does it mean to follow the nonviolent Jesus? How do we respond to authoritarianism as people of Gospel nonviolence? Theologian Brian McLaren warns us: “We are going to have to keep our eyes and ears open for the right time to do the right thing.”
 
This week, John Dear talks with the best-selling author, brilliant theologian, and activist Brian McLaren to explore how Jesus challenged the violent, authoritarian rulers of his day and how we can respond with bold, creative nonviolent action today: “Jesus was an agent of dissent,” he says. “He is the absolute inverse of an authoritarian!” 
 
Brian McLaren is Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation, founded by Fr. Richard Rohr, and a podcaster with Learning How to See, a leading voice in progressive Christianity. He brings deep wisdom from his many books such Faith After Doubt, Do I Stay Christian?, and Life After Doom. If you’re questioning what to do, resisting the culture, and/or seeking a faith rooted in justice and peace, this episode will help encourage you to go forward as the first Christians did in a spirit of nonviolent resistance and universal love.
 

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Shane Claiborne! For more information, visit here.

Upcoming Zoom Programs:

“The Gospel According to John,” A Lenten Series with Fr. John Dear

 

Monday, March 10th. Session #1—4:00 PT/7 pm ET
Monday, March 17th. Session #2—4:00 PT/7 pm ET
Monday, March 24th. Session #3—4:00 PT/7 pm ET
Monday, March 31st. Session #4—4:00 PT/7 pm ET
Monday, April 7th. Session #5—4:00 PT/7 pm ET

 

“Seeding Hope in Precarious Times with Thomas Merton” with Gordon Oyer

Saturday April 26, 2025

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern

 

“The Nonviolent Jesus and the Violent Authoritarians” with Brian McLaren

Saturday May 17, 2025

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern

 

A Conversation on “The God of Universal Love and Compassion”
with Elizabeth Johnson

Saturday June 7, 2025

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern

 

“Bonhoeffer and Resistance to Tyranny and Organized Stupidity” with Larry Rasmussen

Saturday July 5, 2025

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern

 

John Dear’s new book now available

“The Gospel of Peace:
Reading Matthew, Mark & Luke
from the Perspective of Nonviolence”

For info, click here
 
To order, Call Orbis Books at 1-800-258-5838
 
 
 
 

To invite John Dear to speak in your city, write to: john@beatitudescenter.org 

National Catholic Reporter Review of “The Gospel of Peace,” click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s interview with Dean Young of Grace Cathedral about the book, click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s sermon at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on Jan. 21, 2024, (at the 30 minute mark) click here

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LATEST NEWS FROM THE BEATITUDES CENTER

Quote for the Day: 

“The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid. The calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the
adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the God of peace as the waters cover the sea.”

(Isaiah 11:6–9)

Quote for the Day: 

“I am called in the Word of God — as is everyone else — to the vocation of being human, nothing more and nothing less … To be a Christian
means to be called to be an exemplary human being. And to be a Christian categorically does not mean being religious. Indeed, all religious versions of the gospel are profanities. In the face of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst Babel, speak the truth. Confront the noise and verbiage and falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the Word of God. Know the Word, teach the Word, nurture the Word, preach the Word, define the Word, incarnate the Word, do the Word, live the Word. And more than that, in the Word of God, expose death and all death’s works and wiles, rebuke lies,
cast out demons, exorcise, cleanse the possessed,
raise those who are dead in mind and conscience.”

–William Stringfellow

March 20, 2025

Dear friends, Blessings of Christ’s peace! 

“Our love doesn’t stop at our own borders.”

That’s what my friend Shane Claiborne says during our conversation on the next episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” which will be posted on Monday, March 24th. We talked about the need to respond to the rising authoritarianism, white supremacy, war-making, corporate greed, and ongoing global violence and environmental destruction. Shane talked about the need for public organizing, bold resistance, and living out the Gospel where it matters most—on the streets, in communities, and on the frontlines of change.

“We need to go where people are hurting, and serve them, and stop the pain, violence, and injustice,” he says. “The closer we are to the pain, the more urgently we respond to it.”

Shane knows a lot about living the Gospel and responding to the pain and needs of the poor. He has worked on the streets of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, spent time in Rwanda and Iraq, and journeyed with me to Kabul, Afghanistan during the war. He lives in inner-city Philadelphia with the Simple Way community serving, advocating, and organizing on the streets.

He also speaks out all over the world. A dynamic, popular speaker and activist, he is the founder of Red Letter Christians which works with thousands of young evangelicals for justice, disarmament, and creation. Shane has put radical love and nonviolence into action and invites us to do the same through the testimony of his life. “Our protest is a form of liturgy,” he says. “We can bring joy in the midst of public lament.” Visit: www.redletterchristians.org