Preparing the Way for the God of Peace with Fr. John Dear

Longtime peace activist, author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Fr. John Dear, a friend of the Hermitage, will offer an Advent Hybrid (In-Person and Zoom) retreat on the life of Jesus from the perspective of creative nonviolence to help us prepare for Christmas and God’s Christmas gift of peace on earth.

Drawing from his book, “The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence” (Orbis), Fr. Dear will walk us through the Gospels and point out how Jesus is totally nonviolent, like Gandhi and Dr. King, and how we are called to be nonviolent too. He will take us on a journey, exploring Mary and nonviolence from Luke 1; John the Baptist & the Magi; and the teachings of Jesus, the God of Peace.

Fr. Dear will invite us to reflect on our own journey out of the culture of violence and war into the new life of nonviolence and peace: In what ways we are violent and how we can become more nonviolent like Jesus? What we are doing to promote a new culture of nonviolence, as Pope Francis says, and to welcome God’s Christmas gift of peace on earth?

As contemplatives of peace in a world of war, this is a great opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ peacemaking teachings and life, to use this advent to renew and prepare our hearts to receive the peace of Jesus.

Join us, in-person or online!

Fr. John Dear has been working for justice and disarmament and teaching peace and nonviolence for over four decades. The author of forty books, he has served as the director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace group in the nation; was the coordinator of chaplains for the Red Cross after 9/11 in New York; and as pastor to rural parishes in New Mexico. He has traveled in warzones around the world, and spoken to audiences around the world. He is the executive director of where he offers online programs. He was nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, including by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He lives in Morro Bay. See

Here's what folks are saying about Fr. John Dear:

“John Dear’s is a beautiful message of peace!”—Anne Lamott

"Fr. John Dear's The Gospel of Peace is an invitation to go beyond a conceptual consideration of peace to the living of peace, especially as a condition and an attribute of discipleship to Jesus."--Cardinal Peter Turkson, Vatican City

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