Greg Boyle SJ

What We Don’t See

by Maureen McCann Waldron

Sometimes we are blind to what is right in front of us.  Recently at our parish, we watched two altar servers who had fun all through Mass.  It may have been the first time they had served Mass.  Or maybe they had just gotten really comfortable. They talked.  They laughed.  They slapped their legs with [...]

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Speedy’s Good Life

by Jim Manney

As I get ready for Thanksgiving Day I’m thinking of Speedy, “a thrill seeker in the world of project gangbanging,” as the Jesuit Greg Boyle describes him in his terrific book Tattoos on the Heart.  Speedy hailed from a broken family, left the gangs, worked his way out of the projects, and made a life. [...]

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Narrowness Is the Way

by Jim Manney

A story from Tattoos on the Heart, by Greg Boyle, SJ: At three o’clock in the morning, the phone rings. It’s Cesar. He says what every homie says when they call in the middle of the night, “Did I wake you?” I always think Why no, I was just waiting and hoping that you’d call. [...]

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What Does God Think of You?

by Maureen McCann Waldron

“Imagine God thinking about you. What do you assume God feels when you come to mind?” That question begins David Benner’s Surrender to Love which I have been reading recently.  In our heads we mostly know what the correct answer is, or should be: Of course God loves us.  But deep in our hearts, it’s [...]

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Greg Boyle's Success

by Jim Manney

Tattoos on the Heart, a new book by Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, tells the story of the remarkable ministry that the famed “gang priest” has built in East LA.  His Homeboy Industries is one the most successful outreaches to LA gangs, but Boyle doesn’t look at success in conventional terms.  “I’m not opposed to success,” [...]

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Greg Boyle on Gangs

by Jim Manney

I’m a fan of Fr. Greg Boyle, the Jesuit who has done remarkable work rehabilitating members of gangs in Los Angeles. I’ve written about him here.  (More here and here.)   Last week he spoke at my alma mater, St. Peter’s College in Jersey City. Here is an interview he did with a local newspaper. [...]

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Emergency at Homeboy Industries

by Jim Manney

The recession and California’s budget woes have devastated Homeboy Industries, the acclaimed non-profit that serves former gang members in Los Angeles.  Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboy, says that the organization has lost about 40 percent of its $9 million budget.  Donations have plummeted and the state and private companies have cancelled contracts because [...]

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The List 6.8.09: Homeboy Industries

by Jim Manney

The List is a weekly feature highlighting something remarkable, offbeat, or otherwise noteworthy from the world of the Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality. Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ has buried more than 140 of his young friends.  One of the toughest funerals was Chico’s.  After the funeral, he wrote, “I inform myself that I really must let [...]

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