The following "Litany on the Nonviolence of Jesus" is written by James McGinnis and included in Activities for Catholic Social Teaching published by Ave Maria Press. Use the litany with your students along with the questions related to the Scripture passages on peace that accompany the litany.
Litany on the Nonviolence of Jesus
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem and its disregard of Samaritans and lepers, and you weep today over the escalating violence of racism and hate in our own society and world. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem and its humiliating occupation by the Roman Empire, and you weep today over the escalating violence of terrorism and humiliating occupation in your Holy Land. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem and its exploitation of the poor, and you weep today over the escalating violence of poverty in our own society and world. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem and its disregard of women and children, and you weep today over escalating violence against women and children in our own society and world. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem and its deadly use of weapons of violence, and you weep today over the proliferation of the weapons of violence, from handguns to nuclear bombs, in our own society and world. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem where capital punishment was rampant, and you weep today over the escalating use of capital punishment in our own society. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem where the forces of domination were everywhere, and you weep today over the escalating domination—all the ‘isms—in our own society and world. Jesus, in the face of escalating violence,
Let us escalate love.
Scripture Passages on Peace
John 12:24
John 15:12-13
Ephesians 2:13-16
Mark 8:35
Matthew 5:44
Luke 6:28
Matthew 6:33
Luke 6:37
Matthew 5:38-39
Luke 6:42
Luke 6:29; Matthew 5:40-42
Matthew 5:3-4, 7
Luke 6:20-21, 24-25
Matthew 5:5
Matthew 5:9
Matthew 5:10
Questions
1. Which of these Scripture passages challenges you most at this moment?
2. Which most touches your heart and waht does it reveal about the things that make for peace?
3. What is one thing you could specifically do to put this passage into practice?
