The Nonviolent Jesus

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend Robert Jonas about the legendary spiritual writer Henri Nouwen, who died 30 years ago on September 26, 1996.
Henri and I corresponded regularly for many years, right up until his death. Much to my surprise, he offered steadfast support for my peacework, especially when I was in jail for my plowshares action, when he wrote me every week. I thought it would be wonderful to welcome one of his best friends, Robert Jonas, to speak about Henri’s life, teachings, and lessons.
Robert Jonas received his doctorate in education from Harvard University and has a Masters in theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He is the author/editor of The Essential Henri Nouwen, (Shambhala), as well as Henri Nouwen: Spiritual Master (Orbis) and Rebecca (Crossroad). His latest book is My Dear Far-Nearness: The Holy Trinity as Spiritual Practice (Orbis).
“Henri lived in the in-between spaces of academia and the spiritual life,” Jonas says. “He was like a spelunker: he wanted to dig down deep beneath the psyche and the soul. He was convinced that we cannot help other people unless we accept our own woundedness. "
"When we spoke, we could be honest with each other about our woundedness; we could actually name the wounds to each other… He wanted us to take responsibility for the things that are hurting us, to let the spirit come with us, to know that the spirit is with us, that we are never alone, that we are infinitely loved, that we are God’s beloved.”
Henri’s best-sellers include The Wounded Healer; Out of Solitude: Reaching Out; In the Name of Jesus; Return of the Prodigal Son; Can You Drink the Cup; Life of the Beloved; Our Greatest Gift; and The Inner Voice of Love.
Follow me on Substack https://fatherjohndear.substack.com/ and find me on FB and IG.
And check out my two Henri books, The Road to Peace and Peacework.
beatitudescenter.org
Onward in peace with the nonviolent Jesus!
🌻, John

This week I speak with my friend Fr. Greg Boyle, one of the most well known and beloved religious leaders in the world. A Jesuit priest, he has spent decades accompanying and working with young people and gang members in Los Angeles, and creating new alternatives with them.
Fr. Greg is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries and Homeboy Global Network with 300 organizations in the US and 50 outside the country.
It is the world's largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program, and former pastor of Dolores Mission Church, the poorest church in the city. Between 1988-1998, there were close to a 1000 people per year killed in that L.A. area from gang-related crime.
His books include: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion; Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship; Creating a Culture of Tenderness: Embracing Our Kinship with All of Life; The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness; and Forgive Everyone Everything.
I ask him about his motto: “We are all unshakably good – no exceptions. We belong to each other – with no exceptions.” “We are trying to offer a model of community, being connected and relational wholeness,” Fr. Greg said. "There's no such thing as a bad person. We’re all good people, and we’re all sick trying to get well."
"Gang violence is all about a lethal absence of hope."
So we’re trying to nurture a movement where people invest in each other and with folks on the margins.
Fr. Boyle tells me about the four things Jesus took seriously, and what the gang members have taught him about God's unconditional love.
Greg said so many amazing things: “We've lost our confidence in love and the God of love is hoping we will regain that. It's important to find the larger love that animates you. It's always about going forward. Love is always the next thing to do, one loving foot in front of the next."
"The point of the love of God is to disarm us and lead us to be peacemakers.”
Listen in, be inspired, and share the podcast with your friends.
Onward in peace with the nonviolent Jesus!
🌻, Fr. John
www.homeboyindustries.org
beatitudescenter.org

This episode is dedicated to the victims of September 11, 2001, and to the countless families whose lives were forever altered by that day.
As we reflect on a message of profound peace, healing, and the pursuit of a nonviolent world, we pause to honor the memory of those we lost. May their legacies inspire us to reach across divides, comfort those who mourn, and work tirelessly toward a future defined by compassion, reconciliation, and enduring peace.
This week, I’m offering two special episodes of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast” to commemorate 9/11.
Earlier, on Monday, I posted Part 1 of 2, my conversation with my friend Colleen Kelley, co-founder of Sept. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
Today, in Part 2 of 2, I share my own experience as the Red Cross coordinator of chaplains after 9/11.
As some of you know, I was scheduled to have breakfast with my parents that morning in the restaurant on the top of the World Trade Center, but they changed their plans at the last minute. I went down to help and was asked very quickly by the Red Cross to become the local coordinator of all the 550 chaplains at the Family Assistance Center where we served some 50,000 direct relatives of those who died in the two towers over the next three months. I also worked once or twice a week at Ground Zero, praying with and counseling rescue workers.
I tell about the many people I met, such as Neil, a Long Island Catholic, who came to the Center clutching a bag of hairs snatched from his missing brother-in-law’s comb, as DNA evidence. While he was filling out the paper, he was told his relative’s body was found. I prayed with him before he called his sister to tell her.
I also share stories of the many rescue workers I met at Ground Zero, such as the fireman who came scrambling down the smoking seven story Pile, ran up to me and said, “Father, quick, give me your blessing. I’m digging for my best friend.” Or the one who ran up to me and begged, “Father, please, teach me how to pray. We found the body of my friend yesterday, and I don’t know what to do.”
I conclude with reflections about my work organizing protests against the Afghanistan war, and where we are 25 years later. Thank you for listening.
PS. For the full story, read my autobiography, "A Persistent Peace."
beatitudescenter.org
johndear.org
Find me on Substack https://fatherjohndear.substack.com/
Onward in peace with the nonviolent Jesus!
🌻, God bless you, Fr. John

This week The Nonviolent Jesus podcast brings 2 special episodes:
Today (part 1 of 2), I speak with my friend Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. A few years earlier, I had baptized Colleen’s daughter at a very happy family event.
On Thursday’s episode, (part 2 of 2), I’ll share my own stories as the Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at Ground Zero. You can also read more stories about this period of my life in my book "A Persistent Peace".
On September 11th, Colleen's brother Bill was at a one day conference at Windows on the World, on the top of the World Trade Center. In the awful days afterwards, she met with other family members to seek nonviolent alternatives to the cycles of violence, and to enhance civilian protection.
They formed “September 11th Families For Peaceful Tomorrows,” which has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Its name comes from the Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote, "Wars make poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."
These days, she continues to work with Peaceful Tomorrows in a variety of ways, including the pursuit of justice and accountability for the death of Bill and nearly 3000 others, by numerous visits to observe the military commissions at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.
Colleen talks about her brother, the founding of “Peaceful Tomorrows,” her trips to Guantanamo, and their work marching for and promoting peace, even in Afghanistan.
We also talk about her amazing mother, who told me as we left Ground Zero how she felt about the bombing of Afghanistan, words that have stayed with me to this very day.
For the 25th anniversary, Colleen is organizing a peace walk on Sept. 10th from Union Square to Ground Zero where they will hold an evening vigil. www.peacefultomorrows.org
“Nonviolence is what Jesus taught and it is hard to believe but until we all truly believe it and make that leap, we are stuck in this inhuman world,” she says.
Listen in and be inspired!
God bless you,
🌻 Fr. John

One of the key prophets, saints, teachers and models for me is Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was assassinated while saying Mass in San Salvador on March 24, 1980.
I lived and worked in a refugee camp in 1985, and traveled back nearly twenty times, including his beatification Mass in San Salvador. To me, he is the epitome of the modern day prophet who denounces war, poverty, and killing, calls people to be converted to the nonviolent Jesus, and announces the coming of God’s reign of justice, disarmament and peace.
On this episode I speak with Professor Todd Walatka of Notre Dame, author of a new book, “Words of Life: The Preaching of St. Oscar Romero.”
Todd Walatka teaches about Catholic theology after Vatican II, Latin American theology, Catholic social teaching, and Christian spirituality. He is also the editor of Óscar Romero and Catholic Social Teaching, which examines the life of Romero in light of contemporary work for justice and human development.
“If you hear Romero's words or know anything about his life, you immediately think, ‘This is the gospel!’” Todd says. “Romero asked us: ‘What is the Good News today? What does it demand of our very lives today? Romero truly believed that the Word of God can change our lives.”
Discover more about Saint Oscar Romero here:
orbisbooks.org
beatitudescenter.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero
Come join me on Substack: https://substack.com/@fatherjohndear
🌻, John