Father Greg Boyle visited students who are reading his book
Compassion, kinship and hope.
They’re some of the themes that Jesuit Father Greg Boyle has encountered in his work with Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang-intervention program based in Los Angeles.
Father Boyle spoke to students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in University City on Nov. 14. As part of their religion class, eighth graders have been reading Father Boyle’s 2010 book, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion,” in which he shares stories of his experiences at Homeboy Industries through a lens of faith.
Within those encounters have been lessons in hope, redemption and the transformative power of support and community, he told students.
“You go from here to imagine a circle of compassion, and then imagine nobody is standing outside that circle,” Father Boyle said. “And you go from here to dismantle the barriers that exclude. And you go from here to stand at the margins so that the margins can be erased. And you go from here to create a community of kinship such that God might recognize Him where there is no us and them — there’s just us.”
Homeboy Industries was founded in 1988 and serves about 10,000 people each year, offering a path to a better life for men and women who have been incarcerated or involved in gangs. The organization has 13 social enterprises that offer job training and employment. Services include legal assistance, education, housing support, substance abuse treatment, mental health services and tattoo removal.
During his visit to St. Louis, Father Boyle was accompanied by two of his “homies,” former gang members who are going through workforce training at Homeboy Industries. David Martinez and Samuel Banda shared some of their personal stories, the negative impact that gangs have had on their lives and how they’ve found healing and support through the ministry.
“I’m overcoming a lot of things … and I’m on the path to make things right,” Banda said. “One of the things that I’ve learned that has stuck with me is I heard Father G say that before, he used to say jobs keep people out of jail. But he found out that that’s not the case. He found that we need to heal from the inside. That’s the process I’m going through.”
Our Lady of Lourdes eighth graders have been diving into some of the stories featured in “Tattoos on the Heart,” religion teacher Cindy Fuller said. They’ve also broken down the topics of identity, relationship and mission within those stories.
“It’s about forming a sense of conscience, and I feel like stories are a good way to do that,” she said.
She’s also encouraged them to look closer at the stories and see “how can that apply to you, to be able to also do good work in the way that God calls you to.”
Eighth grader Michael Briody was moved by the story of one of Father Boyle’s “homies” who visited his office to proudly show off his report card. The student had received all Fs but was beaming because he had perfect attendance.
Several of the stories have reinforced for Michael the importance of placing God first in your life. Some of them “started out not following God, or doing things explicitly against God, and now they’re putting God first,” he said. “That’s pretty cool.”
