I remember wandering into one of the workshops at the National Pax Christi Conference in Chicago, when I was there with Pat a few weeks ago. It was probably a fine workshop, but I felt a strong sense of restlessness--I had an impulse to leave and go elsewhere. Before the session began, I shot up and walked down the hallway.
I ended up at the workshop led by Fr. John Dear. It was entitled, "Put Away Your Sword: The Last Words of Jesus to the Church." I was periodically in tears and very powerfully moved during his talk.
So you can imagine I was very excited to find out that Fr. John Dear is making an appearance in town in just a few short weeks:
The Center for Dominican Studies Presents Special Event on September 30: “Living Peace: Spirituality of Contemplation and Action”
Ohio Dominican University’s Center for Dominican Studies is proud to present a special program about living peace on September 30, 2009 in the Matesich Theatre (2nd Floor of Erskine Hall at the ODU’s main campus-1216 Sunbury Road, Columbus OH 43219) at 7:00 p.m. The program’s speaker is John Dear, S.J. who is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. He is a Jesuit priest, lecturer, organizer and retreat leader, and author of 25 books. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. To register for this event, email Sr. Catherine Colby, Director for the Center of Dominican Studies and Vice President for Mission & Identity at colbyc@ohiodominican.edu or call, (614) 251-4722.
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As we lay the groundwork for starting a Pax Christi chapter in Columbus, there are few living individuals who can speak to the radical gospel message of Jesus' nonviolence as effortlessly as Fr. John Dear. While some may debate over these issues, Fr. John Dear makes it all sound as simple as breathing.
I absolutely encourage everyone who can make it to attend this conference.
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Thank you so much for this post! I would have had no idea that John Dear was gracing our city with his presence! I just finished reading his book of the same title as the lecture, and of course it is wonderful. I couldn't agree more with your final comment that John does make living peace seem as simple (and necessary) as breathing!
I teach church history & social justice to juniors at St. Charles Prep and plan on organizing a group of students to attend the lecture at ODU. I also look forward to connecting & collaborating with our various ministies.
My email is mwarner@cdeducation.org - please keep me posted if you ever need student volunteers for ANYTHING!
Peace,
Mike Warner
Oh- p.s. your "rain brothers" link isn't working- fyi (glad to see it there though!)
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