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January 12th, 2026

Episode #54, John Dear in conversation with Charlene Howard, Director of Pax Christi USA

On this week’s episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with Charlene Howard, the executive director of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, about Pax Christi’s ongoing work for justice, disarmament and peace.
 
“One light can dispel the darkness,” Charlene says. “That’s what we’re trying to do—be a light in the darkness. There’s a lot of hard things happening in this country, but there’s a lot of light, too. Don’t be fooled into thinking that we are not gaining ground for the good and for peace, because we are.”
 
Charlene Howard is a lifelong Catholic, a catechist, and a longtime teacher in the Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools. She holds a master’s degree in Catechesis and Religious Education from Catholic University and is a graduate and former faculty member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies Imani Catechetical Program at Xavier University of Louisiana.
 
We discuss organizing Pax Christi groups and actions, getting connected with other like-minded peace and justice church activists, taking on a variety of issues, and how we can practice and teach the nonviolence of Jesus. In the end, she encourages us to get involved and stay involved, and take to heart Pope Leo’s January 1, 2026 World Day of Peace message, “Peace Be With You All: Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace.” “The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of concrete historical, political and social circumstances,” Leo writes. “Christians must together bear prophetic witness to this novelty.” “Read it!” Charlene says, “and let’s speak truth to power!” Listen in and be inspired to pursue the peace of Christ!
 
For further information, visit www.paxchristiusa.org and Pope Leo’s World Day of Peace message here.

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Rev. Andrew Young! For more information, visit here.

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

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National Catholic Reporter
Apple Podcasts
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Podbean Podcasts
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Fountain FM
True Fans
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January 19th, 2026

Episode #55, John Dear in conversation with Rev. Andrew Young

On this week’s episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with Civil Rights legend, Rev. Andrew Young to mark the Dr. King national holiday.
 
Born in 1932, Andrew Young was Dr. King’s right-hand man, his number one lieutenant. He was later elected to Congress, named Ambassador to the United Nations by President Carter, and then elected Mayor of Atlanta for 2 terms, when he brought the Olympics to Atlanta. Rachel Madow recently made a two-hour documentary about his life work for justice and civil rights. Today he lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn, and is the father of 3 daughters and one son, a grandfather of 9 and a great grandfather of two.

They spoke mainly about Dr. King and Young’s experiences organizing the Civil Rights Movement. “What I learned from Martin King is what he learned from his parents and grandparents: it’s all about the history of a people.  We are constantly reminded of visions for a way out of no way. In moments of despair, I still sing.”
 
“We didn’t talk much about Jesus,” he said, “but it was a prayerful movement because we didn’t know what we were doing. It’s a mystery how the spirit of nonviolence moves through the earth.”
 
“Here it is two thousand years later,” he said, “and what Jesus taught is still relevant and powerfully important for us as we deal with the day to day crises in our lives.”
 
He recalled the day Fred Shuttlesworth came to him and Dr. King, told them his house had been bombed, and asked King to come to Birmingham. “We need to make nonviolence more aggressive,” Dr. King said. “We need to build a nonviolent movement.” Contrary to today, he said, “It wasn’t a time of despair or depression. Preparation for our campaigns was very important,” he added “Nowadays, we don’t take the time before our demonstrations to prepare for them, and we should.”
 
Listen in to this elder as he shares his Dr. King stories and be inspired to go forward on the way of nonviolence, resistance, and creative peacemaking. God bless everyone!

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Mike Farrell of MASH! For more information, visit here.

Upcoming Zoom Programs:

Paula D’Arcy, “Blessed are those who mourn”

Saturday January 24, 2026

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



Rev. Charlie McCarthy, “The Nonviolent Jesus Is, Before Abraham or the World Was”

Saturday February 14, 2026

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



Ched Myers on his new book, “Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy: Luke’s Jesus and Sabbath Economics”

Saturday March 7, 2026

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

 

Sr. Helen Prejean, in conversation with John Dear, on the Holy Week Journey of the Nonviolent Jesus

Saturday March 28, 2026

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
 
Visit Fr. John’s 2025 Speaking Schedule
 
 
 

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

John Dear’s new book available February 17th, 2026

Universal Love:
Surrendering to the God of Peace
By John Dear

For more information, click here
 
Available from www.orbisbooks.com or call 1-800-258-5838, or Amazon.com
 
 
“One of the people I respect most on this earth and whose winsome company I enjoy most is Fr. John Dear. In this short, valuable, and practical book, John shares his conversations with a young spiritual seeker named Will who came to him seeking spiritual guidance. As I read each chapter, I felt like I was meeting with John for coffee, sharing my struggles, and receiving his wisdom and encouragement. This book is a treasure.”
— Brian McLaren, author of Faith After Doubt and The Last Voyage

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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

January 12, 2026

Dear friends, Christ’s blessings of peace!

     This week, millions of us mourn Renee Nicole Good who was shot to death by ICE on the streets of Minneapolis, while legally monitoring ICE immigration arrests. We mourn the over thirty who died in ICE’s custody over the last year. We’re also mourning the 100 people killed by the U.S. in last week’s bombing of Venezuela, where we kidnapped the president. We mourn all those we killed in the nine places the U.S. bombed over the last twelve months: Syria; Iran; Iraq; Yemen; Nigeria; Somalia, Venezuela, and I include–because we fund warmaking–Palestine/Gaza and Sudan. Not to mention, the 231 million killed by warfare and conflict in the last century (according to the Center for International and Security Studies at the Univ. of Md.)

     Besides the ongoing loss of loved ones, friends, and those who died during the pandemic, we also mourn the countless millions who die from poverty and poverty-related disease, as well as gun violence, the death penalty, and many other forms of violence. And we mourn the billions of creatures who have died because of our use of fossil fuels.

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