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April 20th, 2026

Episode #68, John Dear speaks with Prof. Melanie Harris on “Ecowomanism”

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with his friend Dr. Melanie Harris, Professor of Black Feminist and Womanist Theologies jointly appointed with African American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. A graduate of the Harvard Leadership Program, she is the author of Gifts of Virtue: Alice Walker and Womanist Ethics, and Ecowomanism: Earth Honoring Faiths. She is a former broadcast journalist who worked as a news producer for ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates. Dr. Harris earned her PhD. and M.A. degrees from New York’s Union Theological Seminary, her M. Div. from Iliff School of Theology and a B.A. from Spelman College in Atlanta.
 
“Womanist theology came from black seminary women looking for a term to express the theology of black women,” she explains. She then connects the theology of black women with a theology of the earth. “Justice for all is connected to environmental justice. The question is: What does the Divine intend for all of humanity and all of the earth?”
 
When John asks for her suggestions, she says: “Tell the story of Jesus well and truthfully. In truth, Jesus was a nonviolent person and deeply committed to compassion. Jesus was corrected by the Syrophoenician woman. For a male religious leader to be speaking with a woman was radical; this was a model of peace-giving and peace-building. It is important to recognize that the gospel of Jesus is a gospel of peace. Jesus was not one who stood for violence, hierarchy or domination.”
 
“All of us are interwoven and interconnected,” she concludes. “We have to come back to our own peace, and the truth that we have to have buckets and buckets of forgiveness and compassion. Find the spaces of hope for your spirit and nourish those spaces as much as possible. From now on, we need to seed peace from the time we wake up to the time we fall asleep.” Listen in and be inspired to be a peacemaker! God bless you all!

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes John Dear! 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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National Catholic Reporter
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Fountain FM
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April 13th, 2026

Episode #67, John Dear speaks with Prof. David Cortright on war and peace

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend Prof. David Cortright, a leading scholar on war, peace and nonviolent resistance. He is the former executive director of SANE, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy which under his leadership in the 1980s grew from 4,000 to 150,000 members and became the largest disarmament organization in the U.S. He also co-founded Win Without War in 2002. He is a visiting scholar at Cornell University’s Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and professor emeritus at Notre Dame.
 
David is the author, co-author or co-editor of 23 books, including Protest and Policy in the Iraq, the Nuclear Freeze and Vietnam Peace Movements; Civil Society, Peace and Power; Gandhi and Beyond: Nonviolence for a New Political Age; and Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. He has written widely about nonviolent social change, nuclear disarmament, and sanctions, and provided research services to the foreign ministries of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, and has served as consultant or advisor to the United Nations, the Carnegie Commission, the International Peace Academy, the MacArthur Foundation and Catholic Relief Services.
 
On the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. “It’s a war of folly and is completely groundless. It’s immoral, unjust and illegal. Half or more Israelis and American Jews oppose the war in Gaza and Iran. As Americans we have the responsibility to oppose the war, and push to cut off military aid to Israel until Israel agrees to follow the rule of law and UN principles.” 
 
On nuclear weapons: “In the 80’s, we had massive movements against nuclear weapons. Now, we are rebuilding all our nuclear weapons to make them even more lethal. There are no guard rails of any kind, but the UN Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons is becoming a global reality.”
 
“We were put on this planet to serve God and follow the nonviolent Jesus. Peacemaking and peacebuilding are obligations of the faith. If we are believers, we are committed and obligated to peace. Jesus was a revolutionary and preached against violence… We have power. We are not helpless in front of these violent and evil forces. We have to speak out and work for justice and peace!” Listen in and be inspired to carry on the Easter work of peace! God bless you.

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Prof. Melanie Harris! For more information, visit here.

Upcoming Zoom Programs:

Wes Granberg-Michaelson, “The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Action”


Saturday May 16, 2026

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern



Kate Common. “Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible. And the Future of Christianity”

Saturday June 13, 2026

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern



John Dominic Crossan and Michael Okinczyc-Cruz on “Jesus and Justice”

Saturday July 11, 2026

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern



Joyce Rupp in conversation with John Dear on “Compassion and Prayer”

Saturday July 25, 2026

11 am Pacific, 12 PM Mountain, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern



John Dear’s new book available February 17th, 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

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LATEST NEWS FROM THE BEATITUDES CENTER

Quote for the Day: 

“The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid. The calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the
adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the God of peace as the waters cover the sea.”

(Isaiah 11:6–9)

Quote for the Day: 

“I am called in the Word of God — as is everyone else — to the vocation of being human, nothing more and nothing less … To be a Christian
means to be called to be an exemplary human being. And to be a Christian categorically does not mean being religious. Indeed, all religious versions of the gospel are profanities. In the face of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst Babel, speak the truth. Confront the noise and verbiage and falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the Word of God. Know the Word, teach the Word, nurture the Word, preach the Word, define the Word, incarnate the Word, do the Word, live the Word. And more than that, in the Word of God, expose death and all death’s works and wiles, rebuke lies,
cast out demons, exorcise, cleanse the possessed,
raise those who are dead in mind and conscience.”
–William Stringfellow

April 21st, 2026

Dear Friends, Easter blessings of peace and hope to everyone! 

On Saturday May 16th, the Beatitudes Center welcomes long time social justice activist and church leader, Wes Granberg-Michaelson to speak with us about his inspiring new book, The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Action. Wes is a writer, lecturer, and global ecumenical leader who worked in the 1970s and 1980s as the assistant to progressive US Senator Mark Hatfield, then as a longtime leader of Sojourners magazine, and then the World Council of Churches. (Visit www.wesgm.com).

I was so inspired by his reflections a few months back on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” that I asked him to do a zoom presentation for us on the lessons he has learned as a lifelong activist in the church. Here for example are his eight basic 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.
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