2024 Speaking Tour

Host Fr. John Dear on his 2024 Speaking Tour for his Forthcoming Orbis Book: “’The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence.” For more info, click here

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

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January 5th, 2026

Episode #53, Robert Ellsberg on the Saints!

On the next episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” which posts on Monday, Jan. 5th, we start the New Year on a positive note listening to Robert Ellsberg, the Publisher and Editor-in-chief of Orbis Books, talk about his latest book, Volume 2 of Blessed Among Us, a massive collection of beautifully written short descriptions of hundreds of saints, prophets, and witnesses. He’s become the world’s leading expert on the saints, and listening to him is inspiring and uplifting.
 “I wanted to bring a different way of looking at the saints as normal human beings that looked for a new way to follow Christ,” he tells John Dear. “I wanted to expand peoples’ conception of holiness, to raise the question, ‘Aren’t there all kinds of ways to live the Beatitudes?’ I’ve always been inspired by visionaries, artists, writers, poets, and mystics of other times.”
 
Robert Ellsberg is the author of several award-winning books, including All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time; Blessed Among All Women; The Saints’ Guide to Happiness; and A Living Gospel: Reading God’s Story in Holy Lives. From 1975 to 1980 he was part of the Catholic Worker community in New York City, where he served as managing editor of The Catholic Worker and worked closely with Dorothy Day. He has edited six volumes of her writings, including Dorothy Day: Selected Writings; The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day; All the Way to Heaven: The Selected Letters of Dorothy Day; and Dorothy Day: Spiritual Writings. He has written and edited many other volumes, including (with Sister Wendy Beckett) Dearest Sister Wendy: A Surprising Story of Faith and Friendship.
 
“A saint is somebody who reminds you of Jesus,” he tells John, “a model of inspiration. Dorothy Day said the saints were here to change the social order, not just minister to the people. She herself tried to practice the presence of God and the path to holiness through a social dimension, the power of small gestures, as well as small protest.” May this episode with Robert Ellsberg inspire you in the new year to follow the nonviolent Jesus more closely and live out the Beatitudes and the Gospel. God bless everyone!

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Charlene Howard of Pax Christi USA! 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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Januar 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.

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
 
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, a free weekly podcast with John Dear
click here

John Dear’s New Book, Available February 10th, 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

Recent Books

GospelOfPeace
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“The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience”
Revised 2022 Edition, with new foreword by Shane Claiborne,
Available on amazon, in the U.K.  To order, visit: https://labora.press/product/the-sacrament-of-civil-disobedience/

Recent Articles

John Dear Talks Nonviolence with Joan Baez: A Conversation

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The Peacemaking Life of Pope Francis

A few years ago, three French peace activists met with Pope Francis and asked him for advice. “Start a revolution,” he said. “Shake things up! The world is deaf. You have to open its ears.” That’s what Pope Francis did — he started a nonviolent revolution and invited us all to join. 

I’m grateful for him for so many reasons, but mainly because he spoke out so boldly, so prophetically in word and deed for justice, the poor, disarmament, peace, creation, mercy and nonviolence. It is a tremendous gift that we had him for 12 years, that he did not resign or retire, but kept at it until the last day, Easter Sunday.

Read More

My Long Lost Conversation with John Lewis

Last summer, after Congressman John Lewis died, I posted a photo on social media of me and John from a memorable afternoon we spent together in his congressional office. It was 26 years ago. We had talked for a while, and then filmed a formal conversation on nonviolence.

Needless to say, it was one of the greatest days of my exciting life.

Read More

Recent News

“Nonviolence,” a new 147 page special edition
of Richard Rohr’s journal Oneing, now available from www.cac.org

John Dear on “Democracy Now” talking about Thich Nhat Hanh and Archbishop Tutu 

Visit
www.DanielBerrigan.org

“Jesus was totally nonviolent and calls us to practice and teach Gospel nonviolence and welcome God’s reign of peace and nonviolence, which means from now on, we work for the abolition of war, poverty, racism, gun violence, the death penalty, nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, and all violence.” – Fr. John Dear

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