God of Nonviolence,
Thank you for the gift of your love and your peace.
Give me the grace to live the life of Gospel nonviolence
that I might be a faithful follower of the nonviolent Jesus.
Send the Holy Spirit of nonviolence upon me that I will love everyone,
from my neighbor to my enemies,
that I may see you in everyone, and know everyone as my sister and brother,
and never hurt or fear anyone again.
Make me an instrument of your peace,
that I might give my life in the struggle for justice and disarmament;
that I may work for the abolition of war, poverty and nuclear weapons;
that I may always respond with love and never retaliate with violence;
that I may accept suffering in the struggle of justice and never inflict suffering or death on others;
that I my live more simply, in solidarity with the world's poor,
that I may defend the poor and resist systemic injustice and institutionalized violence,
that I may always choose life and resist the forces of death.
Guide me on the Way of nonviolence.
Help me to speak the truth of peace, to practice boundless compassion, to radiate unconditional love, to forgive everyone who ever hurt me, to embody your nonviolence, to walk with you in contemplative peace, to be your beloved servant and friend.
Disarm my heart, and I shall be your instrument to disarm other hearts and the world. Lead me, God of nonviolence, with the whole human family, into your nonviolent reign of justice and peace where there is no more war, no more injustice, no more poverty, no more nuclear weapons, no more violence.
I ask this in the name of the nonviolent Jesus, our brother and our peace.
Amen.
Rev. John Dear S.J. is a Jesuit Priest, Peace Activist, Organizer, Lecturer, Retreat leader, and author/editor of 20 books on peace and nonviolence, including Living Peace, published by Doubleday.
Fr. Dear's story can be found on his web site on the link below his picture. He's the real deal, a peace activist, a man who takes the Gospel to heart and moves on to action.
Fr. John Dear's work for peace has taken him to El Salvador, where he lived and worked in a refugee camp in 1985; to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Middle East, and the Philipines; to Northern Ireland where he lived and worked at a human rights center for a year; and to Iraq, where he led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize winners to witness the effects of the deadly sanctions on Iraqi children. He has run a shelter for the homeless in Washington, DC; and served as Executive Director of the Sacred Heart Center, a community center for disenfranchized women and children in Richmond, Virginia.
A native of North Carolina, John Dear was arrested on December 7, 1993 at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina for hammering on an F15 nuclear fighter bomber in an effort to "beat swords in plowshares," according to the biblical vision of the prophet Isaiah. Along with activist Philip Berrigan, he spent eight months in North Carolina county jails. Dear has been arrested over seventy-five times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience for peace, and has organized hundreds of demonstrations against war and nuclear weapons at military bases across the country, as well as worked with Mother Theresa and others to stop the death penalty.
As you see, he walks the walk and pays the penalty. I wish I had his courage.
The National Catholic Reporter has a longer article on Fr. Dear.
His latest book is titled Transfiguration, with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Here is the link to his prayer.
UPDATE: Jan at Yearning For God has posted the trailer for the video on Fr. John titled "The Narrow Path", which can be purchased at
This is good. Was it one of his columns in NCR? I haven't been so far back in his archives as to find it.
ReplyDeleteWhatever: this is especially helpful for me in the coming days, I think.
In a class at my parish, where we have a guest from outside our church visit each week to talk about their faith journey and the practical mission based aplications, we had a Quaker woman last week. It was so amazing to listen to her speak about what she has done and the way she has organized her life around peace and taking care of those not able to take care of themselves. She trained with the Christian Peacemaker teams, who put themselves between the two sides in a violent struggle, but don't DO anything else. She spoke some words of James Loney, the Canadian gentleman who was one of the four CPT members taken hostage; the only one who was killed. It is so moving to see people so committed to peace that they are willing to give their lives. I only hope to be able to move in that direction.
ReplyDeleteJohnieb, it was not one of his columns. It is a story about him in the NCR from a long time ago, 1995. Although it's old, I thought the article was well done.
ReplyDeleteHere's a more recent interview with Fr. Dear from the Eureka Street Newsletter, from March of this year, which he did during a tour of Australia.
Doug, I agree. I'd like to move closer to that type of activism. The Christian Peacemakers who put themselves between two adversaries DO a great deal, even if they DO nothing else.
Thank you, Grandmere Mimi. I heard Fr. John Dear speak several years ago at a Pax Christi conference. (He asked to be called "Fr. John," NOT "Fr. Dear".) He is a passionate man.
ReplyDeleteDoug, I posted about Tom Fox, one of the CPT workers, who was killed on July 20 on my blog--Tom Fox, Quaker Peace Activist. I also linked an article by James Loney.
And Grandmere, I posted a link to this, because I feel that it is so important. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteJan, what a privilege to hear him speak! He shall be Fr. John to me from now on, although Fr. Dear certainly has a ring to it that I'm a little sorry to leave behind.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link.
Perhaps it wasn't "Father Dear" but "Father, dear" then?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional details; we must be more deeply, profoundly connected to such bold non-violent warriors.
Father Phil, RIP, (Airborne).
Johnieb, it was "Father, dear" that was in my mind.
ReplyDeleteBeating swords into plowshares. With a hammer. On a fighter jet.
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant, ballsy, hysterical, gets the point across in a way that 'swords' doesn't, these days. Wow. I'm laughing and amazed and impressed.
Kate, a mensch who rocks, no?
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of Fr. Dear, so thank you for this. Now begins my education.
ReplyDeleteWow, a gay Jesuit! What'll they think of next? A liberal Unitarian? A secret drinking Baptist?
ReplyDelete