Dear Pax Christi USA Members,

Blessings of Christ’s peace to you! Easter is the time to celebrate the triumph of the God of Peace over the forces of death and violence, the time to hear the nonviolent Jesus offer us his resurrection gift of peace, the time to reject once and for all the culture’s path of war and violence and follow him anew on the Gospel path of peace and nonviolence.

As a member of Pax Christi, I share with you a dream rooted in the promise of the Resurrection. Together we dare to dream of a world that embraces nonviolence over violence, peacemaking over warmaking, love and justice over fear and vengeance. We practice the disarming of our own hearts so that it may lead to the disarming of the nations, so that one day, “swords will be beaten into plowshares” and war, poverty and nuclear weapons will be abolished forever.

When I discovered the nonviolence of Jesus and joined the Jesuits in 1982, I immediately joined Pax Christi USA, and have been an active member ever since, serving on its National Council, starting over forty local groups and two regions around the nation, and participating in many of its campaigns. Pax Christi gives me hope that the Church in the United States will one day become a community of peace and nonviolence.

With you, I believe Pax Christi USA offers a way for us to stand together as Catholics in the United States on behalf of the nonviolent Jesus in pursuit of his reign of peace with justice. That’s why I continue to work so hard with Pax Christi members across the country, and in particular, these days with Pax Christi New Mexico. I hope that one day, every Catholic in the U.S. will be a member of Pax Christi, that we will have a local group in every parish, and that we will transform the Church into a community of creative nonviolence. To make such a bold vision come true, to build the Pax Christi movement around the country, we all have to pitch in, help out, and make a contribution.

I write to invite you to make a special gift to Pax Christi, above and beyond your membership fee, so that Pax Christi can grow and continue to promote peace with justice. Your extra gift, whether it’s $25, $250 or $2,500, will help Pax Christi reach out and proclaim peace with justice in these troubled times. Never has our voice been more needed than now.

Now more than ever, we need to unite around the nonviolent Jesus and his resurrection gift of peace. Pax Christi USA enables us to raise a prophetic, alternative voice rooted in the gospel of peace and Catholic social teaching. It can help us end the war and occupation in Iraq, champion the rights of the oppressed, dismantle our nuclear weapons systems, build bridges of peace between longtime enemies, build a movement of Catholics from across the racial and political divides and so much more. This is why I call upon you to send in your gift today. The work of Pax Christi USA is critically important and so is your support.

Pax Christi USA needs all of us in this work of Christ’s peace. Help Pax Christi USA be the voice of Gospel nonviolence, and a force for national and global transformation from war, injustice and destruction to peace, justice, and equality. Please do what you can to contribute to the development of Pax Christi, through your prayer, participation and financial support, so that we can bring the message of Gospel peacemaking to our fellow Catholics, the nation and the world.

Thank you for being generous with your support, and for all you do to welcome and proclaim the Peace of Christ. Please send in your check today or go to Pax Christi USA’s secure web site, www.paxchristiusa.org, and give a gift with your credit card.

May the God of peace bless us all!

In peace,

John Dear, S.J.

P.S. Remember, Pax Christi USA relies entirely on the support of people like you so every gift is important.

• View the different types of Pax Christi membership categories here