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

microphone_2368382.png

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

Spotify_Primary_Logo_RGB_Green.png
ncr-logo.png
apple-podcasts-logo.png
amazon-music-logo.png
podbean.jpg
podcast-index-logo.png
fountain-fm-logo.png
true-fans-logo.png
youtube-logo-40x40-1.png

October 27th, 2025

Episode #43, Part 2 of John Dear’s conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell

 
This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” we hear part 2 of John Dear’s 2 part conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell, one of the strongest voices,
organizers, and leaders for social and economic justice in the U.S. A Sister of Social Service, Sr. Simone is a religious leader, attorney, author and recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. For 17 years she was executive director of NETWORK, the national Catholic Lobby for Social Justice and the leader of “Nuns on the Bus.” Her healthcare policy work was critical in the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Before that, she spent 18 years working at the Oakland Community Law Center which she founded.
 
This episode begins with her reflections on her daily contemplative, Zen practice as the foundation of her lifelong work for justice. “My practice begins every morning. I have a half hour of Zen sitting, being quiet and opening myself. I call it, ‘Deep listening to the divine.’ There, things can bubble up. I follow this with a half hour of spiritual reading. I have to feel secure in myself to be willing to open myself to other peoples’ points of view. If I’m riled up, I can’t do this work, so I need my practice. If we’re going to create change, it’s required that we understand what’s going on inside us if we want to understand others.”
 
“My religious community is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, and our feast is Pentecost,” she says. “Pentecost is about the flourishing of the Holy Spirit in places that are challenging, or potentially conflicted. I need to be able to listen well enough so that what I might say will touch the other. I love being on fire. It’s so exciting.”
 
John asks her about the section in her book, Hunger for Hope, where she writes about the importance of “prophetic imagination.” Community is the best way to nurture prophetic imagination, she says. She recites Walter Bruggemann’s five characteristics: long and available memory; touching the reality of the pain; living in hope; effective discourse across generations and cultures; and the capacity to sustain long term tension with the dominant culture, and the potential for insight and imagination.
 
“You can’t have hope without community,” she says. “Community is at the heart of hope. The hardships people are laboring through today are essentially because of the lack of community, because of our radical individualism and isolation. Community happens when we are in relationship with others so much that we rub each other a little bit the wrong way, and learn the capacity to see the world in different ways.”
 
“Hope,” she concludes, “is critically connected to touching the pain of the world as real. It demands a response.” Listen in and be inspired by this legendary voice of social and economic justice! 

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Joan Baez! For more information, visit here.

microphone_2368382.png

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

Spotify_Primary_Logo_RGB_Green.png
ncr-logo.png
apple-podcasts-logo.png
amazon-music-logo.png
podbean.jpg
podcast-index-logo.png
fountain-fm-logo.png
true-fans-logo.png
youtube-logo-40x40-1.png

October 20th, 2025

Episode #42, John Dear in conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell, Part 1 of 2

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” we hear part one of a 2 part conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell, one of the strongest voices, organizers, and leaders for social and economic justice in the U.S.  A Sister of Social Service, Sr. Simone is a religious leader, attorney, author, and recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. For 17 years, she was executive director of NETWORK, the national Catholic Lobby for Social Justice and the leader of “Nuns on the Bus.” Her healthcare policy work was critical in the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Before that, she spent 18 years working at the Oakland Community Law Center which she founded. She also has served as the leader of her religious community and now serves on their governing Council. Her two award-winning books are A Nun on the Bus (2014) and Hunger for Hope (2020).
 
In part 1 of this 2 part conversation, John asks her about the growing authoritarianism and fascism under Trump, and her journey to the Oakland law center, to Network, to organizing for the Affordable Care Act. “We have a two party system, and what we’re experiencing is the end of the Republican party,” she says at the beginning. Now, in this crisis, “we have to learn how to talk to each other and find the best practices to be engaged and talk to each other, and listen to one another. We have a lot of work to do!”
 
She was radicalized with her younger sister in 1965 while watching TV when the children in Birmingham were fire-hosed and attacked by dogs for marching for an end to segregation. “I was horrified but motivated by that. From then on, the gospel and Jesus were always connected with justice. After my sister died of cancer, I picked up her spirit and decided to carry on the journey for justice and have her with me along the way.
 
“NETWORK is now fifty years old. It was founded by Catholic sisters in 1972 to be a network of Catholic sisters around the country to do advocacy for economic justice and environmental issues, to bring the voices of real people to inform pending legislation.” She tells how the work of the sisters became the tipping point to pass the Affordable Care act, which is under assault right now by the Republicans in the current government shutdown.
 
When asked how she has maintained her work for justice over decades, she said, “It starts with a contemplative practice, which is about deep listening to God, to the needs of the time and being present. That leads to holy curiosity, a deep desire to understand the other. With curiosity, deep listening, and sharing stories, we can build community and new connections. The gospels are full of Jesus’ curiosity,” she says. “It’s the invitation that creates the weaving of community.”
 
“Everyone has a piece of the work of justice to do, so what’s yours?” she asks. Listen in to part one of this conversation and be inspired to carry on the work of justice with Sr. Simone!  [See: www.networklobby.org]

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes back Sr. Simone Campbell! 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

Recent Books

“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

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

Daniel Ellsberg, Prophet of Truth and Disarmament

A few months before he died on Friday, June 16th, famed whistle blower and peace activist Daniel Ellsberg sent an email letter to hundreds of friends announcing that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given three months or so to live. After reflecting on his life’s work for peace, he announced that he was full of “joy and gratitude” and wished the same for all of us who work to end war.

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

Find the Beatitudes Center on Facebook!

Find John Dear on Facebook

john-dear-and-friend

Visit Fr. John Dear’s Work at:
The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus

Free, weekly podcast: “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast“

Contact Fr. John Dear via the email or mailing address at: www.beatitudescenter.org