God's Work

So today I was privileged enough to hear Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest, speak at lunchtime. He is the founder of Homeboy Industries, an organization which helps young people formerly in gangs remake their lives. His program is the largest gang intervention program in the country, serving 500 of the 1100 gangs in Los Angeles County.

I cannot begin to do justice to his work here. I think I have rarely encountered someone who so genuinely reflected the love of Christ in what he does. He truly is doing God's work, and in such a way that made me want to write him a big fat check (if I had big fat sums to give). Seriously, the love he clearly has for everyone, and the conviction with which he goes about his work were awe-inspiring and emotional. He speaks of giving hope to communities ravaged by hopelessness, and how so many people feel that gang members are not worthy of our time or attention.

I do not know what else to say. I think you had to be there. He was amazing. (I know I sound like a broken record but its true). You can listen to an interview with him here. Listening to him today really made me proud to be a Christian, and I rarely feel that way with public figures, because I generally find the "Christians" who identify themselves in public ways are often doing so for personal and political gain. That was simply not the case with Fr. Boyle. He really is serving the least among us.

Currently Homeboy Industries has a silk screen shop, a yard maintenance group, and several other job groups, including its newest venture, Homegirl Cafe, which was given rave reviews by the LA Times. Maybe I'll go there soon, give it a shot (sounds kind of difficult to get to).

You can bet that if I win the lottery tonight, I'll be giving some money to Homeboy Industries though.