Welcome to the Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus!
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Paula D’Arcy, “Blessed are those who mourn”
Saturday, January 24, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
The Beatitudes Center is pleased to welcome author and spiritual teacher Paula D’Arcy. Paula is a writer, international retreat leader and founder and President of Red Bird Foundation which supports the growth and spiritual development of those in need throughout the world. She is a former psychotherapist whose personal tragedy led her to reach out to others encountering grief and loss. Her foundation has sponsored two international gatherings of women which honored women’s voices as a force of peace and healing for the world. Visit: www.redbirdfoundation.org
Among her best-selling books are Gift of the Red Bird, Waking up to This Day, Winter of the Heart, When People Grieve, Seeking with All My Heart, The Divine Spark, A New Set of Eyes, and Love that Beckons.
She will reflect on the second Beatitude: “Blessed are Those Who Mourn.” In light of the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, the Russian war on Ukraine, wars in Africa, growing poverty, the collapse of democracy, increasing authoritarianism and white supremacy, and the growing threat of nuclear war and catastrophic climate change, we’re all grieving, and need to make grief a regular spiritual practice. “Grief is a doorway that may take us to places we’ve never anticipated,” she says. “Yet within this experience, powerful gifts are given to the heart which is willing to open to love’s depth.” With Jesus, we grieve over our refusal to learn the things that make for peace (Luke 19).
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Rev. Charlie McCarthy, “The Nonviolent Jesus Is, Before Abraham or the World Was”
Saturday, February 14, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
The Beatitudes Center is pleased to welcome longtime teacher of Christian nonviolence, Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, to speak with us about the nonviolence of Jesus.
“Nonviolence is nonviolent love of friends and enemies modeled by Jesus in the Gospels. Nonviolence asks, ‘Is the action that you are doing imbued with Christlike, nonviolent love?’ Any action without love is nothing at all. If our actions are not motivated by and imbued with Christlike love, they are not going to be effective in countering evil and death.” That’s what Charlie McCarthy said as he began The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast a few months ago in July. (You may want to listen to it; see the podcast page, episode #29, July 21, 2025)
Rev. Charles McCarthy is a priest of one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Byzantine-Melkite, in communion with the Bishop of Rome. He has been a Catholic priest for forty years. He has Masters Degrees in English and in Theology from Notre Dame, and earned his Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Boston College Law School. He was married for 53 years to Mary Margaret McCarthy, and they have 13 children and 23 grandchildren. (The cure of their daughter, Teresa Benedicta, was the official miracle for the canonization of Sr. Teresa Benedicta, known as, St. Edith Stein.)
Charles McCarthy taught at the University of Notre Dame where he founded and was the original Director of The Program for the Study and Practice of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution. He served for many years at St. Gregory the Theologian Byzantine-Melkite Catholic Seminary. For over fifty years he directed retreats and spoke at conferences throughout the world on the Nonviolent Jesus.
“I’ve never been able to get beyond the fact that when the will of God is known, what follows immediately is an imperative to live it, embrace it, and follow it,” Charlie says. “Jesus comes and reveals the will of the Father, which is to love as God loves, even under the most horrendous conditions, as he shows as he undergoes his death.”
“It is important to nurture the capacity of empathy beyond our friends, family, nation, to every human being so that we learn to love the one that does not love you, that is hostile to you. Love your enemies is an authentic teaching of Jesus. That’s what he wants us to do. That’s nonviolence.” For further information, see: www.emmanuelcharlesmccarthy.org
Please join us!
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Ched Myers on his new book, “Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy: Luke’s Jesus and Sabbath Economics”
Saturday, March 7, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
The Beatitudes Center welcomes activist, theologian, and scripture scholar Ched Myers to speak to us about his new book on the Gospel of Luke:
Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy: Luke’s Jesus and Sabbath Economics, which you can get from Fortress Press.
Many of us consider Ched to be the greatest scripture scholar in the world. Ched has published over a hundred articles and eight books, including Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus (Orbis Books, 1988), that some, including Daniel Berrigan, consider the greatest book on scripture ever written. Ched and his partner Elaine Enns are ecumenical Mennonites based in southern California where they lead Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. He has taught around North America and brings a fresh scholarly political reading to the Gospels.
In his new book, he reads through Luke from the perspective of the radical redistribution of wealth we hear in Luke 4, when Jesus announces the Jubilee year as his permanent, never-ending nonviolent revolution. He will encourage us to study Luke to find a new vision of a global economy that might “save us from the illness of affluenza and the social death of plutocracy. In our culture of confusion,” he writes, “may the imaginary of our biblical traditions be unleashed anew through engaged study, advocacy, and above all, embodiment. Because the enchantments of mammon cannot stand up to our sacred stories.”
“Ched Myers is the most astute and profound reader of the Scriptures of this generation,” author Richard Horsley of UMass Boston writes. “Again and again, he discerns previously unseen connections and implications. In his reading of Luke, he shows the way to practice Sabbath Economics in a world suffering from affluenza. This book is a continuous inspiration to reengage in personal and collective economic organization and action.”
Join us on Saturday, March 7th to learn from one of our greatest scripture scholars and be inspired to study Luke all over again! Bring your friends.
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Sr. Helen Prejean, in conversation with John Dear, on the Holy Week Journey of the Nonviolent Jesus
Saturday, March 28, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
The Beatitudes Center is pleased to welcome back Sr. Helen Prejean, one of the world’s most beloved Catholic leaders and prophetic voices. A Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille, she is one of the world’s leading voices against the death penalty. Her best-selling book, “Dead Man Walking,” was made into an Oscar winning movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Her work has been turned into an amazing opera which recently opened at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, and a play. She has written other best-sellers such as “The Death of Innocents,” and “River of Fire: a spiritual memoir.” Recently, “Dead Man Walking” was turned into a graphic novel. She is also the subject of a new documentary film, “Sister.” She lives in New Orleans.During her podcast with John Dear in early 2025, she said, “We don’t follow no John Wayne Jesus!” You might like to revisit that podcast before the program.
This zoom program will take place the day before Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. John and Helen will walk through the Holy Week journey of the nonviolent Jesus and talk about each of the various episodes and how we can learn from Jesus to be more loving, nonviolent and prophetic. Based on John’s book, “Walking the Way: Following Jesus on the Lenten Path of Nonviolence to Death and Resurrection,” John will ask Helen about these various scenes: Jesus weeping over Jerusalem; taking nonviolent action in the Temple; the last supper, and his words “My body broken for you,” (as opposed to, “Break their bodies for me!”); his betrayal; his prayer of surrender in Gethsemani; his arrest and last words, “Put down the sword;” his trial and testimony, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, my attendants would be fighting….;” his death and resurrection. Please visit: www.sisterhelen.org
Join us for this special Saturday Lenten retreat time conversation!
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
John Dear on his new book, “Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace”
Saturday, April 18, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
During this zoom session, Fr. John Dear will reflect on his new book, “Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace,” which is published by Orbis Books on Feb. 17th. [Copies can be ordered at a 30% discount for attendees by visiting www.orbisbooks.com or call 1-800-258-3858, and giving the discount code: “JDT”]When a young person asks for spiritual guidance, Fr. John teaches him about meditation and daily surrender of all concerns, issues, worries, struggles, fears, and resentments to God—so that God is now in complete control of our lives. As struggles arise, he coaches the young person to live out this new spiritual practice in the day to day life of nonviolence, patience, compassion, and surrender. Eventually, he teaches about the political implications of surrendering our lives to the God of peace and universal love. He suggests that doing God’s will of universal love, compassion, peace, and justice in the world means working to welcome God’s reign of universal love, nonviolence, and peace on earth, which includes, working to end poverty, racism, war, weapons, environmental destruction, fascism and injustices. Using examples from his own life and friends like Dr. Paul Farmer and Philip Berrigan, John guides his new friend along a new journey of spiritual transformation, selfless service, meaning and mission.
The zoom will walk us through the themes of the book, including meditation; living in relationship with God; surrendering to God; letting go of control; doing God’s will, not our will; living the nonviolence of God in our day to day lives, including its political implications. Together we will explore surrendering our lives to God and doing the will of God as selfless service and universal love for humanity and fulltime nonviolent resistance to systemic violence and injustice and public peacemaking, so that we become as Pope Leo said recently, like Jesus, “unarmed and disarming.” From now on, our prayer will be the prayer of Jesus: “May I do Your will, not my will.”
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Wes Granberg-Michaelson, “The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Action”
Saturday, May 16, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
During COVID, he reread the daily journal he kept for over 50 years, and discovered four key movements that transformed him over the course of his lifelong work for justice, which he will discuss: self-sufficiency to belonging; rational certainty to spiritual connection; grandiosity to authenticity; and control to trust.
“Grandiosity is in the water in our culture, particularly our political culture,” he says. “It’s so important to learn to keep asking ourselves, ‘Where am I discovering my true self, and really knowing that I’m beloved, not because of what I do, but because of God’s action to love me?’”
He will conclude by offering us eight guideposts for activists:
1. Know that the world belongs to God;
2. Know your engagement with the world has a spiritual foundation;
3. Know that you act on the basis of call;
4. Let your action be steadfast and committed to the long term;
5. Display resilience and inner strength;
6. Live detached from your ego and the results of your action;
7. Don’t demonize your opponents;
8. Know that you are rooted and grounded in love, a love that is spacious and beyond knowledge.
Join us to be inspired to go deeper within so that your public work for justice and peace will be more rooted and grounded in God and God’s love.
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Kate Common. “Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Future of Christianity”
Saturday, June 13, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
On June 13th, John Dear welcomes theologian Kate Common to the Beatitudes Center to talk about her new book, Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Future of Christianity (Orbis). She will explain how a newly uncovered history of the Hebrew people encourages churches to reflect on the long history of conquest within Christian colonialism, theology, and practice.As the Israeli war on Gaza and Iran rages on, Dr. Common will explore biblical violence, particularly in the Book of Joshua, unearthing ways the conquest story has deep roots in today’s conflicts—and shows how a new discovery can help faith communities deal with violence past and present.
She’ll propose the church as a place for restorative justice and repair, and even suggest a new liturgical season, the Season of Origins, to help churches do the work of healing and repair from legacies of Christian violence.
Dr. Kate Common, PhD, is the Assistant Professor of Public and Practical Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and the Theologian-in-Residence at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Northampton, MA. See: katecommon.com
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
John Dominic Crossan and Michael Okinczyc-Cruz on “Jesus and Justice”
Saturday, July 11, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
On July 11th, John Dear will welcome back to the Beatitudes Center one of the world’s greatest scripture scholars, John Dominic Crossan, along with Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, to talk about their new book, Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now (Amna Press). They will offer a joint presentation then take questions. Don’t miss this!
Jesus and Justice presents the life of the historical Jesus as a bold and transformative call to action. They will invite us to actively follow his nonviolent and revolutionary example. Grounded in rigorous historical analysis, they will show how Jesus organized a grassroots movement of poor and marginalized peasants to confront the Roman Empire’s economic, political, and ideological domination—an imperial system with striking parallels to today’s corporate-driven global order. They will discuss Jesus’ message as a radically anti-imperial vision of God’s Reign, as a collaborative, egalitarian and justice-centered alternative to systems built on scarcity and oppression. Drawing connections to modern movements led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Dolores Huerta, they will offer a powerful spiritual and theological framework for confronting contemporary injustice. In the end, they will invite us to renew our commitment to Jesus’ revolution of love and nonviolent, organized action for God’s Reign on Earth.
John Dominic Crossan, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, is an Irish-born biblical scholar with two-year post-doctoral diplomas in exegesis from Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and in archeology from Jerusalem’s École Biblique. He has been a Catholic priest, a Co-Chair of the Jesus Seminar, and a President of the Society of Biblical Literature. His focus, whether scholarly or popular, whether in books, videos, or lectures, is on the historical Jesus as the norm and criterion for the entire Christian Bible. His many books include: God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome; How to read the Bible and Still Be a Christian; Resurrecting Easter; In Search of Paul; Excavating Jesus; The Birth of Christianity; Who Killed Jesus?; The Historical Jesus; The Essential Jesus; Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography; and his memoir, A Long Way from Tipperary.
Co-author Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership. He is a community organizer in Chicago who has worked alongside faith communities and thousands of grassroots leaders to address poverty, violence and systemic inequities. He is also an adjunct professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University of Chicago. Michael possesses a BA from the University of California-Berkeley, a Master’s in Theology from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and a Doctorate of Ministry from Fordham University.
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
Joyce Rupp in conversation with John Dear on “Compassion and Prayer”
Saturday, July 25, 2026
11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern
On July 25th, John Dear will welcome to the Beatitudes Center the beloved spiritual writer Joyce Rupp, who is also a spiritual guide, international retreat leader and conference speaker. They will have a conversation on “Compassion and Prayer,” and then open it up for questions and dialogue.Joyce Rupp is the author of three dozen bestselling books on topics as diverse as grief, compassion, aging in midlife and in the later years, prayers and poems for every occasion, reflections on nature, and a memoir of her walk of 450 miles across northern Spain. Her work has been published in nineteen countries. Among her bestsellers are Boundless Compassion; Return to the Root; Jesus Guide of My Life; Constant Hope; Dear Heart Come Home; Praying Our Goodbyes; Inviting God In; and Walk in a Relaxed Manner. Orbis Books also published Joyce Rupp: Essential Writings.
While writing remains her first love, she also companions others as a spiritual guide. Joyce Rupp is a member of the Servite community (Servants of Mary) and was a volunteer for Hospice for fifteen years. She resides in West Des Moines, Iowa.
This session will last an hour and a half; Cost: $30. Scholarships are available! Join us!
You will be sent a zoom link for the event on the Wednesday before the event. Please be on the lookout for it!
You will receive a recording of the event two days after it, in case you were not able to attend the live program, or want to watch it again.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be honored after the zoom link is sent out. If you have any questions, please email Kassandra at:
beatitudescentermb@gmail.com See you then!
