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!

Here is the schedule for the first five podcasts. The link we will provided on the day they are posted; the podcast APP will be available in early February. It will also be posted every Monday on the homepage of the National Catholic Reporter, HERE.

What does it really mean to be a peacemaker? To work for justice? To get into “good trouble” for the sake of love? “How do we form a happy, holy world”? Sr. Joan asks.

In this powerful final conversation, Fr. John Dear and the unstoppable Sr. Joan Chittister explore the last Beatitudes—where Jesus declares:

💠 “Blessed are the peacemakers” – How do we become fearless, nonviolent warriors for peace in a world addicted to war?

💠 “Blessed are those persecuted for justice” – What does it mean to stand for truth, even when it costs us everything, to “get in trouble for justice and peace”?

Sr. Joan challenges us to go beyond words and build a real movement—a “Beatitudes Movement” that brings people together in small communities of action, resistance, and deep faith. What if we reimagined the Church as a “new Church of the Beatitudes”—a community of justice-seekers, peacemakers, healers, and changemakers?

The Beatitudes aren’t just lessons—they tell us how to be a human being,” Sr. Joan teaches. Are you in?

Tune in, be inspired, and take action. “Find and build your own happiness group,” Sr. Joan advises.

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Sr. Joan Chittister is an internationally known lecturer and teacher, a columnist for The National Catholic Reporter, and the author of 60 books including The Time Is Now; Becoming Fully Human; Radical Spirit; Aspects of the Heart; The Gift of Years; and The Rule of Benedict. She has served as Benedictine prioress and Benedictine federation president, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women. www.joanchittister.org

Upcoming Podcasts

Mar. 10th. #10, John Dear in conversation with Marie Dennis

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast

Posted Every Monday

Jan. 6th. #1 John Dear on “Living the Beatitudes”
Jan. 13th. #2 John Dear in conversation with actor and activist Martin Sheen
Jan. 20th. #3 John Dear in conversation with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Dr. King’s personal assistant
Jan. 27th. #4 The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast with Sr Helen Prejean
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.”
Feb. 10th. #6, Fr. John Dear on “The Nonviolence of Jesus: 10 Essentials”
Feb. 17th. #7 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 1 of 3
Feb. 24th. #8 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister on “Jesus and the Beatitudes,” Part 1 of 3
Mar. 10th. #10, John Dear in conversation with Marie Dennis

“What if the Church fully embraced the radical nonviolence of Jesus? What if each one of us fully embraced Jesus’ nonviolence in every aspect of life? Can the Church become a church of nonviolence and help lead a nonviolent revolution?”

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with Marie Dennis about the nonviolence of Jesus, the outdated just war theory, and active nonviolence as the heart of the church. “We can no longer view war as a solution,” Marie says. “We want to see nonviolence move to the center of Catholic Church teaching and practice.”

“Jesus teaches us to be more imaginative in how we deal with moments of crisis,” she says. There is always a nonviolent alternative; we can always choose a more nonviolent, more creative way of dealing with conflict and life. “Nonviolence is the only way forward,” she says.

Marie worked for the Maryknoll Missioners from 1989 to 2012, including 15 years as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, and as co-president of Pax Christi International from 2007 to 2019. She is author or co-author of seven books, and editor of Choosing Peace: The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence. Currently she coordinates the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative at www.paxchristi.net.

Upcoming Podcasts

Mar. 17th. #11 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Brian McLaren
Mar. 24th. #12 Fr. John Dear in conversation with Shane Claiborne
March 31st. #13. John Dear on “Carrying on Jesus’ Grassroots Movement of Peace & Nonviolence–Luke 10.”
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.
April 14th, #15. John Dear in conversation with Eric Stoner, founder and editor of www.wagingnonviolence.org
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 31st, #17. John Dear in conversation with Kazu Haga, author of the new book, Fierce Vulnerability, on trauma healing and creative nonviolence