John Dear SJ Column

'Let us try to think of ourselves as a community'

John Dear SJ — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:14:57 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, May 6, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 35

"The trouble with the Catholic Worker," Dorothy Day writes in her newly published diaries, The Duty of Delight, "is that one is so busy living that there is not time to write about it." She wrote a dozen books, nevertheless, and a monthly column for nearly five decades. Plus thousands of speeches and over a thousand pages of journal entries, which we can now read for the first time.

JFK and the Unspeakable

John Dear SJ — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:23:09 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, April 29, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 34

This week, Orbis Books publishes one of its most significant books in years, a labor of some 15 years work by Jim Douglass. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters tells the painful, hopeful story of John F. Kennedy's efforts to save us from nuclear war, his decision to pull out troops from Vietnam, and his call for nuclear disarmament, a vision that animated shadowy forces in the U.S. government to do away with him and his vision.

A Visit to Los Alamos High School

John Dear SJ — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:02:01 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, April 22, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 33

Last week, I drove up the mountain to the town of Los Alamos, birthplace of the bomb, along Trinity Drive past Oppenheimer Road near the National Nuclear Weapons Labs. I was there for a very unusual speaking invitation -- to talk about peace and disarmament to a group of students at Los Alamos High School. I approached the doors with a vague sense of dread, but left exhilarated. These bright young students gave me hope.

Dorothy Day and the Revolution of Love

John Dear SJ — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:09:58 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, April 15, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 32

"We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever-widening circle will reach around the world," wrote Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. On May 1, the Catholic Worker celebrates its 75th birthday, and to mark the occasion, Marquette University Press will publish Dorothy Day's diaries, The Duty of Delight. Meanwhile, a beautiful new DVD documentary, "Don't Call Me a Saint," has been released, offering rare interviews and footage of the heroic woman whose reach has indeed embraced the world.

'What things?'

John Dear SJ — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:27:26 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, April 8, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 31

There they are, two crestfallen disciples after Jesus' horrific torture and execution. Fearful and grief-stricken, they're clearing out of Jerusalem and drifting toward Emmaus, none of which should bring the reader any measure of surprise. But then the story takes a turn. Jesus (his identity veiled) sidles up to the two and asks, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stop and turn. "Are you the only person in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened in these last days?" The risen Jesus then asks one of the most astonishing questions of the Bible: "What things?"

"Precious Lord, Take My Hand"

John Dear SJ — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:57:40 -0400

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.	Tuesday, April 1, 2008
	Vol. 2, No. 30

It was six o'clock on April 5,1968, a Friday morning. My mother came into my room, shook me awake and said, "John, Martin Luther King has been killed. You have to get up." I was eight years old.