The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast
Posted Every Monday
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast is a free, weekly thirty-minute podcast, posted on every Monday, featuring Fr. John Dear and his reflections about Jesus, Gospel nonviolence, and peacemaking, and guests who teach, speak out, organize and work for a more just, most peaceful, more nonviolent world. Through these weekly reflections, we hope to inspire everyone to follow the nonviolent Jesus more faithfully and do our part to welcome God’s reign of peace with justice on earth!
To listen, click on any link below to hear past podcast.
To hear the latest podcast, click on the most recent link at the bottom of the list.
Below that, you will see some of the platforms which also host it, including Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack, as well as on the National Catholic Reporter.
On this week’s episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with his friend Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Center for Human Rights [www.kennedyhumanrights.org]. A lifelong human rights activist and lawyer, she authored Being Catholic Now, as well as Speak Truth to Power, Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope, and the forthcoming Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy. The 7th of Ethel and Robert Kennedy’s 11 children, Kerry has devoted more than 40 years to the pursuit of equal justice, and the promotion and protection of basic rights around the world on a range of issues. She has led hundreds of human rights delegations and regularly provides commentary on TV. For 10 years, she served as chair of the Amnesty International USA Leadership Council. A graduate of Boston College Law School, she lives in Massachusetts.Kerry talks about her parents, and her human rights work at the Kennedy Center. Her team of lawyers sues governments around the world that are abusing human rights. They usually have 40 cases going at a one time, and have never lost a case. They also work to decrease mass incarceration and abuses committed by ICE, as well as work to stop violence against women, and indigenous and marginalized people around the world. She tells about her recent trip to the notorious, violent prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration has been sending hundreds of people to be tortured.
On her brother Bobby Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, she says, “I’ve learned from my faith that you can hold two truths in your hands at the same time. I love my brother with all my heart, and I completely disagree with him on almost everything. We need now more than ever to treat people we disagree with love.”
“The words that ring most true to me are, ‘Love one another.’ Whenever I’m in trouble, wondering what to do next, that’s what I go to—how can I love others? I fail at it 50 times a day, but that’s the way. We can all do something to make things better for others.” Listen in and be inspired to go out, and serve and love others! Happy Easter! God bless you!
- March 30th. #65 with Jim Finley on God and the mystics
- March 23rd. #64 with Daniel Hunter on resistance
- March 16th. #63 with Jonathan Kuttab of FOSNA.org
- March 9th. #62, with Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise of Greenfaith.org
- March 2nd. #61, Part 2 of John Dear on his new book “Universal Love”
- February 23rd. #60, John Dear on his new book “Universal Love,” Part 1 of 2
- February 16th. #59, John Dear speaks with activist Ann Wright
- February 9th. #58, John Dear speaks with Ched Myers on his new book on the Gospel of Luke
- February 2nd. #57, John Dear speaks with Emily Yellin on Rev. Jim Lawson’s Memoir, “Nonviolent”
- January 26th. #56, John Dear in conversation with actor/activist Mike Farrell
- January 19th. #55, John Dear in conversation with Rev. Andrew Young
- January 12th. #54, John Dear in conversation with Charlene Howard, Director of Pax Christi USA
- January 5th, 2026. #53, Robert Ellsberg on the Saints!
- December 29th. #52, A Special Year End One Hour Episode of Highlights of the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast from 2025!
- December 22nd. #51, John Dear on the Epiphany Journey to the Nonviolent Jesus—and Civil Disobedience to the Tyrant!
- December 15th. #50, John Dear on Mary’s Advent Journey of Nonviolence
- December 8th. #49, John Dear in conversation with activist Mike Martin on beating guns into garden tools!
- December 1st. #48, John Dear in conversation with Rep. Jamie Raskin
- November 24th. #47, John Dear in conversation with filmmaker and author Gerry Straub, on his journey from Hollywood to Haiti
- November 17th. #46, John Dear in conversation with justice activist Wes Granberg-Michaelson
- November 10th. #45, John Dear Talks With Anti-Nuclear Leader Dr. Ivana Hughes
- November 3rd. #44, John Dear Talks Nonviolence with the Legendary Joan Baez
- October 27th. #43, Part 2 of John Dear’s conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell
- October 20th. #42, John Dear in conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell
- October 13th. #41, John Dear in conversation with Paul Chappell
- October 6th. #40, John Dear on “The Nonviolent Jesus and the Things That Make For Peace”
- September 29th. #39, John Dear in Conversation with John Fugelsang
- September 22nd. #38, John Dear in Conversation with Archbishop John Wester
- September 15th. #37, John Dear the Life and Lessons of Gandhi
- September 8th. #36, John Dear with Stanley Hauerwas
- September 1st. #35, John Dear with Rivera Sun
- August 25th. #34, John Dear with Ken Butigan
- August 18th. #33, John Dear with Brad Wolf
- August 11th. #32, Terry Rynne on Jesus the Peacemaker
- August 4th. #31, John Dear on “Love Your Enemies”
- July 28th. #30, Michele Dunne on following St. Francis and Jesus on the path of Gospel nonviolence
- July 21st. #29, Rev. Charles McCarthy on nonviolence and Christlike love
- July 14th. #28, Art Laffin on the Catholic Worker, Plowshares, and the command to love
- July 7th. #27, Cornel West on the collapse of the US empire, and the need to love our way through the darkness and cruelty
- June 30th. #26, Kathy Kelly, on Fasting for an End to the US-backed Israeli Genocide in Gaza
- June 23rd. #25, Michael Nagler on Nonviolence as the destiny of the human race
- June 16th. #24 Frida Berrigan on Remembering Hiroshima 80 Years Ago and Resisting Nuclear Weapons
- June 9th. #23. Matthew Fox on Resisting Evil & A Spirituality of Falling in Love with Life
- June 2nd. #22, Fr. John Dear on Mt. 5:39—the Most Revolutionary–and Most Disobeyed–Teaching in the Gospels
- May 26th. #21, John Dear Talks with Bishop John Stowe, head of Pax Christi, the Catholic peace movement
- May 19th. #20, Fr. John Dear Talks with Maria Stephan on Global Movements for Change
- May 12th. #19, John Dear in conversation with Bill McKibben
- May 5th. #18, John Dear in conversation with Kazu Haga, author of the new book, Fierce Vulnerability, on trauma healing and creative nonviolence
- April 28th. #17, John Dear on “Francis—the Most Radical Pope in History”
- April 21st. #16, John Dear in conversation with Martha Hennessy, longtime peace activist, member of Maryhouse Catholic Worker in New York City, granddaughter of Dorothy Day
- April 14th. #15, Eric Stoner of WagingNonviolence.org On the Growing Resistance to Trump’s Policies
- April 7th. #14 John Dear in conversation with Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder and director of Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Mar. 31st. #13 John Dear on Jesus’ Grassroots Campaign of Nonviolence, a Model for our Time
- Mar. 24th. #12 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Shane Caliborne
- Mar. 17th. #11 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Brian McLaren
- Mar. 10th. #10, John Dear in conversation with Marie Dennis
- Mar. 3rd. #9 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 3 of 3
- Feb. 24th. #8 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 2 of 3
- Feb. 17th. #7 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 1 of 3
- Feb. 10th. #6, Fr. John Dear on “The Nonviolence of Jesus: 10 Essentials”
- Feb. 3rd. #5 John Dear in conversation with Fr. Richard Rohr about his new book on the prophets, “The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an age of outrage.”
- Jan. 27th. #4 The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast with Sr Helen Prejean
- Jan. 20th. #3 John Dear in conversation with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Dr. King’s personal assistant
- Jan. 13th. #2 John Dear in conversation with actor and activist Martin Sheen
- Jan. 6th, 2025. #1 John Dear on “Living the Beatitudes”
Upcoming Podcasts
- April 13th. #67. John Dear in conversation with Prof. David Cortright
- April 20th. #68. John Dear in conversation with Prof. Melanie Harris
- April 27th. #69. John Dear on Daniel Berrigan, for the tenth anniversary of his death
- May 4th. #70. John Dear in conversation with Bishop Marian Budde
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast is a free, weekly thirty-minute podcast, posted on every Monday, featuring Fr. John Dear and his reflections about Jesus, Gospel nonviolence, and peacemaking, and guests who teach, speak out, organize and work for a more just, most peaceful, more nonviolent world. Through these weekly reflections, we hope to inspire everyone to follow the nonviolent Jesus more faithfully and do our part to welcome God’s reign of peace with justice on earth!
To listen, click on any link below to hear past podcast.
To hear the latest podcast, click on the most recent link at the bottom of the list.
Below that, you will see some of the platforms which also host it, including Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack, as well as on the National Catholic Reporter.
On this week’s episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with his friend Jim Finley, the beloved teacher of contemplation and mysticism.When he was a teenager, Jim entered the Abbey of Gethsemani and was a novice and later a friend of Thomas Merton. Eventually, he left the monastery, became a clinical psychologist, and opened his practice in Los Angeles, where he still lives. He wrote the first serious book about Merton’s spirituality, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere. Jim has taught and lectured on Merton, spirituality and mysticism for over 50 years, and these days is a faculty member of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation. He hosts a free popular podcast, “Turning to the Mystics,” which has hundreds of thousands of regular listeners. He is author of several other bestsellers, such as The Awakening Call, The Contemplative Heart, and his recent memoir, The Healing Path.
This year, Orbis Books is launching a ten volume series by Jim on the mystics, such as Teresa of Lisieux, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Meister Eckhart. The first volume is on Merton. “I saw Merton as a living mystic,” he tells John. “I was so honored to be in his presence. He was my spiritual director, so every other week for six years, I would meet with him and he would always ask the three same questions: How’s it going? Then, how’s it going in your surrender to God who accessed your heart to lead you to this place? And finally, how’s it going in discovering the depth of the 2nd question percolating to the messy details of the 1st question?” He says he learned from Merton that “the only way to ever be at peace is to accept myself as I am, because I’ll never be anyone else.”
“The infinite presence of God is pouring itself out, whole and complete in the very presence of ourselves and others,” he concludes. “We can never lose God’s love. Jesus is God’s complete surrender to us. We have to accept that we are infinitely accepted.” Listen in to this wise teacher and be inspired for Holy Week to deepen in the contemplative life of mystical peace! God bless you!
- March 23rd. #64 with Daniel Hunter on resistance
- March 16th. #63 with Jonathan Kuttab of FOSNA.org
- March 9th. #62, with Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise of Greenfaith.org
- March 2nd. #61, Part 2 of John Dear on his new book “Universal Love”
- February 23rd. #60, John Dear on his new book “Universal Love,” Part 1 of 2
- February 16th. #59, John Dear speaks with activist Ann Wright
- February 9th. #58, John Dear speaks with Ched Myers on his new book on the Gospel of Luke
- February 2nd. #57, John Dear speaks with Emily Yellin on Rev. Jim Lawson’s Memoir, “Nonviolent”
- January 26th. #56, John Dear in conversation with actor/activist Mike Farrell
- January 19th. #55, John Dear in conversation with Rev. Andrew Young
- January 12th. #54, John Dear in conversation with Charlene Howard, Director of Pax Christi USA
- January 5th, 2026. #53, Robert Ellsberg on the Saints!
- December 29th. #52, A Special Year End One Hour Episode of Highlights of the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast from 2025!
- December 22nd. #51, John Dear on the Epiphany Journey to the Nonviolent Jesus—and Civil Disobedience to the Tyrant!
- December 15th. #50, John Dear on Mary’s Advent Journey of Nonviolence
- December 8th. #49, John Dear in conversation with activist Mike Martin on beating guns into garden tools!
- December 1st. #48, John Dear in conversation with Rep. Jamie Raskin
- November 24th. #47, John Dear in conversation with filmmaker and author Gerry Straub, on his journey from Hollywood to Haiti
- November 17th. #46, John Dear in conversation with justice activist Wes Granberg-Michaelson
- November 10th. #45, John Dear Talks With Anti-Nuclear Leader Dr. Ivana Hughes
- November 3rd. #44, John Dear Talks Nonviolence with the Legendary Joan Baez
- October 27th. #43, Part 2 of John Dear’s conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell
- October 20th. #42, John Dear in conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell
- October 13th. #41, John Dear in conversation with Paul Chappell
- October 6th. #40, John Dear on “The Nonviolent Jesus and the Things That Make For Peace”
- September 29th. #39, John Dear in Conversation with John Fugelsang
- September 22nd. #38, John Dear in Conversation with Archbishop John Wester
- September 15th. #37, John Dear the Life and Lessons of Gandhi
- September 8th. #36, John Dear with Stanley Hauerwas
- September 1st. #35, John Dear with Rivera Sun
- August 25th. #34, John Dear with Ken Butigan
- August 18th. #33, John Dear with Brad Wolf
- August 11th. #32, Terry Rynne on Jesus the Peacemaker
- August 4th. #31, John Dear on “Love Your Enemies”
- July 28th. #30, Michele Dunne on following St. Francis and Jesus on the path of Gospel nonviolence
- July 21st. #29, Rev. Charles McCarthy on nonviolence and Christlike love
- July 14th. #28, Art Laffin on the Catholic Worker, Plowshares, and the command to love
- July 7th. #27, Cornel West on the collapse of the US empire, and the need to love our way through the darkness and cruelty
- June 30th. #26, Kathy Kelly, on Fasting for an End to the US-backed Israeli Genocide in Gaza
- June 23rd. #25, Michael Nagler on Nonviolence as the destiny of the human race
- June 16th. #24 Frida Berrigan on Remembering Hiroshima 80 Years Ago and Resisting Nuclear Weapons
- June 9th. #23. Matthew Fox on Resisting Evil & A Spirituality of Falling in Love with Life
- June 2nd. #22, Fr. John Dear on Mt. 5:39—the Most Revolutionary–and Most Disobeyed–Teaching in the Gospels
- May 26th. #21, John Dear Talks with Bishop John Stowe, head of Pax Christi, the Catholic peace movement
- May 19th. #20, Fr. John Dear Talks with Maria Stephan on Global Movements for Change
- May 12th. #19, John Dear in conversation with Bill McKibben
- May 5th. #18, John Dear in conversation with Kazu Haga, author of the new book, Fierce Vulnerability, on trauma healing and creative nonviolence
- April 28th. #17, John Dear on “Francis—the Most Radical Pope in History”
- April 21st. #16, John Dear in conversation with Martha Hennessy, longtime peace activist, member of Maryhouse Catholic Worker in New York City, granddaughter of Dorothy Day
- April 14th. #15, Eric Stoner of WagingNonviolence.org On the Growing Resistance to Trump’s Policies
- April 7th. #14 John Dear in conversation with Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder and director of Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Mar. 31st. #13 John Dear on Jesus’ Grassroots Campaign of Nonviolence, a Model for our Time
- Mar. 24th. #12 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Shane Caliborne
- Mar. 17th. #11 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Brian McLaren
- Mar. 10th. #10, John Dear in conversation with Marie Dennis
- Mar. 3rd. #9 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 3 of 3
- Feb. 24th. #8 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 2 of 3
- Feb. 17th. #7 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 1 of 3
- Feb. 10th. #6, Fr. John Dear on “The Nonviolence of Jesus: 10 Essentials”
- Feb. 3rd. #5 John Dear in conversation with Fr. Richard Rohr about his new book on the prophets, “The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an age of outrage.”
- Jan. 27th. #4 The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast with Sr Helen Prejean
- Jan. 20th. #3 John Dear in conversation with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Dr. King’s personal assistant
- Jan. 13th. #2 John Dear in conversation with actor and activist Martin Sheen
- Jan. 6th, 2025. #1 John Dear on “Living the Beatitudes”
Upcoming Podcasts
- April. 6th. #66. John Dear in conversation with Kerry Kennedy
- April 13th. #67. John Dear in conversation with Prof. David Cortright
- April 20th. #68. John Dear in conversation with Prof. Melanie Harris
- April 27th. #69. John Dear on Daniel Berrigan, for the tenth anniversary of his death
- May 4th. #70. John Dear in conversation with Bishop Marian Budde
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast is available on these other platforms too!
(In the Opinion Section - Guest Voices)
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John Dear’s 15 previous “Peace Podcast,” recorded 2020-2021.
Click a link below to open the podcast in a new window.
The Life And Teachings Of Daniel Berrigan
The Beatitudes of Peace and Nonviolence
The Nonviolent Sermon on the Mount
Jesus’ Campaign of Nonviolence
The Raising of Lazarus as Nonviolent Revolution
Walking With the Nonviolent Risen Jesus
Mary and the Advent Journey of Peace and Nonviolence
Gandhi’s Lessons on Nonviolence
Dr. King’s Teachings on Nonviolence
The Nonviolent Life of Dorothy Day
The Nonviolent Life of Franz Jagerstatter
Thomas Merton’s Teachings of Nonviolence
The Psalms of Peace and Nonviolence
75 Years After Hiroshima, My Stories of Nonviolent Resistance (August, 2020)