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.

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear takes a deep dive into Matthew 2, the famous story of the three Magi. He offers this Christmas reflection as four movements: 1) the journey to the nonviolent Jesus; 2) the epiphany of meeting the nonviolent Jesus; 3) what we do after we meet the nonviolent Jesus; and 4) the epilogue, how the empire, the culture of violence and war, reacts to the coming of the nonviolent Jesus and the threat of active nonviolence.

John invites us to reflect on the story of the Magi as our story. Like the three wisdom figures, we too are on a spiritual journey, a holy pilgrimage, one that lasts a lifetime—the journey to the God of peace, to God’s reign of peace and the nonviolent Jesus.

During the episode, he offers questions for your Christmas reflection, such as: When did you have an epiphany of the God of peace? When have you met the nonviolent Jesus among the poor, the homeless and the marginalized? How does nature point you to the God of peace? What gifts do you bring the nonviolent Jesus?

The shocking part of Matthew 2 is what happens after the Epiphany, he proposes. The Magi were ordered to report back to the lying, greedy, warmaking, sociopathic tyrant, King Herod. But Matthew shows that once you meet the nonviolent Jesus and experience the God of peace—you disobey the ruling authorities who kill, oppress and wage war! The Magi commit civil disobedience and head home a different way!

Matthew invites us this Christmas to seek the nonviolent Jesus on the margins of the culture of violence, empire and war; to let our encounter with the nonviolent Jesus lead us away from the corrupt culture of violence and war; to live as wisdom pilgrims of nonviolence who obey Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount teachings; to do our part to stop the ongoing slaughter of the innocents; and to serve God and God’s reign of peace only from now on. Check it out! Merry Christmas everyone! May the God of peace bless you on your Epiphany journey!

Upcoming Podcasts

Dec. 29th. #52. “Highlights of The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, 2025”

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast

Posted Every Monday

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate a year of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” we have created a special one hour year end episode of highlights which we hope you will enjoy!

You will hear short segments, usually 2-3 minutes each featuring, in order: Martin Sheen, Helen Prejean, Richard Rohr, Joan Chittister, Brian McLaren, Bryan Stevenson, Cornel West, Charles McCarthy, Stanley Hauerwas, John Fugelsang, Paul Chappell, Kathy Kelly, Simone Campbell, Jamie Raskin and Joan Baez. It is an astonishing collection of visionaries, teachers and peacemakers.

You will be inspired by Martin Sheen and Joan Chittister’s exuberance, Helen Prejean and Bryan Stevenson’s sharing about death row, Richard Rohr, Brian McLaren, and John Fugelsang on Jesus, Cornel West’s wit and wisdom (comparing “Trump to Ahab, chasing Melville’s white whale of white supremacy!”), Charlie McCarthy calling us to live the nonviolent love of Jesus as demonstrated in the Gospels, while Stanley Hauerwas declares boldly, “Jesus is nonviolence!,” Paul, Kathy, and Simone each sharing their insights into peacemaking, and finally, Jamie Raskin’s passionate call for democracy. We end with Joan Baez remembering Dr. King, reading her new poem (“I am not an optimist, but I’m tired of being a pessimist, so I will carry on being an activist!”), and singing the Civil Rights anthem, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around!” Enjoy!

We’ll start the new year next week with Robert Ellsberg talking about the saints, and mark Dr. King’s upcoming birthday holiday with a special conversation with his assistant Rev. Andrew Young. Thanks for your support. Happy New Year! God bless everyone!

Upcoming Podcasts

Jan. 5th. #53. John Dear in Conversation with Robert Ellsberg.

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast

Posted Every Monday

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!