#51 With John Dear: "Epiphanies come at night. They are political. The story of the Magi is our story!"

Dear friends, Next week we will be publishing highlights of our 52 episodes here on the first year of The Nonviolent Jesus podcast. Next year we will continue to explore and expand our dedication to nonviolence with conversations with inspirational thought leaders and icons of peacemakers and nonviolent activists. Thank you to everyone who listens and subscribes and shares the nonviolent Jesus in your world. This week I take a deep dive into Matthew 2, the famous story of the three Magi. I offer this Christmas reflection as four movements: 1) The journey to the nonviolent Jesus; 2) The epiphany of meeting the nonviolent Jesus; 3) What we do after we meet the nonviolent Jesus; and 4) The epilogue, and how the empire, the culture of violence and war, reacts to the coming of the nonviolent Jesus and the threat of active nonviolence.Let's take our inspiration from the Magi, as I propose that their story is our story. Like the three wisdom figures, we too are on a spiritual journey, a holy pilgrimage, one that lasts a lifetime—the journey to the God of peace, to God’s reign of peace and the nonviolent Jesus.During this episode we ask ourselves: When did you have an epiphany of the God of peace? When have you met the nonviolent Jesus among the poor, the homeless and the marginalized? How does nature lead you to the God of peace? What gifts do you bring the nonviolent Jesus? The shocking part of Matthew 2 is what happens after the Epiphany. The Magi were ordered to report back to the warmaking, sociopathic tyrant, King Herod, but instead they commit civil disobedience and head home a different way!Matthew invites us this Christmas to seek the nonviolent Jesus on the margins of the culture of violence, empire and war.Let our encounter with the nonviolent Jesus lead us away from the corrupt culture of violence and war.We too, can live as wisdom pilgrims of nonviolence who obey Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount teachings.Let's do our part to stop the ongoing slaughter of the innocents; and to serve God and God’s reign of peace only from now on. Merry Christmas to everyone and may the God of peace bless you on your Epiphany journey! ---Fr. Johnbeatitudescenter.org