In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Father Gregory Boyle—Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries—offers a profound reflection on kinship, healing, and radical compassion. Father Boyle brings humor, depth, and decades of experience to bear on the essential truths that guide his work. Reflecting on 40 years of work with gang members as “the privilege of my life,” he discloses that “the day won’t ever come when I am more noble or more courageous or closer to God than the thousands upon thousands of men and women I’ve been privileged to know.” At the heart of his message are two powerful beliefs: that every person is unshakably good, and that we belong to each other. These principles, he says, if held without compromise, could dissolve every complex social problem we face.
Through tender and humorous stories of transformation, Father Boyle shows what happens when we move from judgment to awe, from fixing to cherishing—what he calls “love with its sleeves rolled up.” He recounts unforgettable moments: a young man confusing “exalted” with “exhausted,” toppling a revered God into a God who is weary (from loving us); gang rivals becoming friends through shared work; and his mother’s final words that teach us about presence and delight. These stories are not just anecdotes—they are invitations to stand confidently at the margins, “because that is the only way they will be erased,” and to build a circle of compassion with no one left outside. Whether confronting violence, addiction, or despair, Boyle’s work reveals a simple, luminous truth: healing comes through love, community, and the courageous act of cherishing one another.
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