With the help of parishioners and the local business community in Los Angeles, Greg Boyle has worked to build Homeboy Industries into one of the largest, most comprehensive, and most successful gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry programs in the United States. In this audio clip, he discusses the power of going to the margins.
[Interviewer] Is there somebody that stood out over the years where you feel like—and I'm sure you have had thousands—where you really reached and were able to show them their goodness or you had an exchange where you saw that before their eyes?
[Greg Boyle, SJ] Well, again, I don't operate that way. I don't think it's about me reaching into anybody. It's like, I don't reach them. I allow them to reach me. I allow myself to be reached by them. Which is a different kind of thing, you know? Because then it's mutually ennobling, where they discover their own nobility. Otherwise you go to the margins to, rescue people, rather than you go to the margins to find your own rescue. Even terms like, make a difference, you know, everybody loves that term. 'I just want to make a difference in the world.' And whenever I hear it I always go, 'Oh, you know, I hope you'll get over that,' because I think it's not about going to the margins to make a difference. It's about going to the margins so that the margins and the folks there will make you different.
Desmond O'Grady, SJ
LoveDesmond O'Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life. [Interviewer] And that's the great thing about being open about it. You know, once it's out there and said, people can then say to you, "This is my name," or, you know, put it into the conversation in some way so that you know. What is it like being you today in the sense of, do you remember yesterday? Or when you go now from me today, and say, by tonight, will you remember that you've done this interview?
VIEW THIS STORY
Ana Maria de Castro Santos
HopeOn one of these visits, we found a young woman with four children who had nothing to eat. The mother was crying and showing us the empty pots. I looked at Anna, and she looked at me. There was a lady nearby selling jackfruit, and we asked the lady for a piece. Anna shared the jackfruit with this family. The young woman was glad because the children ate, and she served the jackfruit with flour. It was a great feast!
Eugenie Carmel Gazal
WorkEugenie Carmel Gazal is no stranger to work and struggle. In this brief video, she describes how her mother's example inspired her to start a second career late in life.
Martin Benton
WorkBefore I started making pottery, I had the idea that you had to make a perfect pot. Over time I have come to realize there is no such thing as a perfect pot. There is a relationship between the potter and the clay, and the clay has a mind of its own. You can shape it and bend it to a certain extent. But if you try to mold the clay in a way it doesn't want to go, it will end up in your lap. [laughs] Pottery is a good teacher. It teaches you patience and how to get centered and not think about anything but doing pottery.
StruggleDesmond O'Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life.
Joe Schneider
LoveI met her on a blind date. One blind date, and we just walked in for life! They talk about love at first sight. Well I'll tell ya—that was it! She was the girl I didn't even know I was looking for until I saw her. It was God's gift. A lot of people say, 'It was luck.' But you know, God operates in different ways. I think God sent two people he wanted to keep together because he knew we'd have the glue to stay together. It was a very, very wonderful life.
© COPYRIGHT 2020 LOYOLA PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TERMS OF USE | YOUR PRIVACY | CONTACT