Father Greg Boyle: The Answer to Every Question Is Compassion
Jul 24, 2018
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Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries, discusses transformative compassion in the fight against gang violence. He shares his journey from Bolivia to Los Angeles, highlighting how love can foster healing. The conversation delves into the importance of embracing empathy over judgment, addressing trauma, and creating nurturing communities. Boyle also touches on the challenges of funding nonprofits dedicated to social reintegration and the power of blessings to uplift marginalized individuals.
Father Greg Boyle emphasizes that understanding the trauma behind individuals' behaviors fosters compassion and promotes healing over judgment.
Kinship among diverse individuals is essential for creating a compassionate community, breaking down barriers, and supporting personal transformation.
Deep dives
The Foundation of Homeboy Industries
Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program globally, welcoming around 15,000 individuals each year. Located in Los Angeles, known as the gang capital of the world, it offers various services to help gang members redirect their lives. The program emphasizes not only employment opportunities through social enterprises but also a community-based approach focused on healing and personal growth. This culture of tenderness creates a safe environment, allowing individuals to transform their identities while fostering connections beyond gang affiliations.
Understanding Behavior as a Language
Homeboy Industries operates on the principle that behavior is a language expressing deeper issues, and the organization strives to understand rather than judge it. Father Greg Boyle explained that seeking to understand the underlying trauma can lead to more effective interventions. This perspective fosters an environment where individuals can explore their wounds within a supportive community, recognizing that many who engage in harmful behaviors do so from a place of chronic stress and trauma. By focusing on healing rather than labeling, the program aims to shift narratives and foster kinship among participants.
Compassion over Judgment
The podcast emphasizes the importance of choosing compassion over judgment when encountering difficult behaviors, be it in gang members or society’s outcasts. Father Boyle shared insights on how everyone carries their struggles, and the real work lies in recognizing that no one is beyond help. By understanding that mental illness and trauma often underlie aggressive actions, individuals can start fostering a compassionate view of humanity. This shift creates a culture where healing can thrive rather than being mired in blame and alienation.
Kinship as a Path to Healing
Kinship is presented as a vital antidote to societal loneliness and fragmentation, encouraging people to engage with others from different backgrounds. Father Boyle argues that genuine connection is essential for healing, as it promotes a sense of belonging and mutual respect. His experiences highlight that when individuals from various walks of life interact—breaking down barriers while recognizing shared humanity—true compassion emerges. This dynamic leads to the dissolution of judgment and opens pathways for healing within communities, illustrating the transformative power of love and connection.
Father Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit devoted to intervention, social reintegration, and job training for former gang members. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Father Greg and Tami Simon discuss the work of Homeboy Industries and what it takes to move from a culture of violence to one of open tenderness. Father Greg describes the path that brought him to working with gang members—specifically his experiences in Bolivia, where his experiences with the poor brought to life the teachings of the Gospels. Tami and Father Greg talk about living the tenets of one's faith and what it means to offer love no matter the situation. Finally, they speak on the judgments many have of gang members and other criminals, and how we can seek a compassion that can "stand in awe at what people have to carry, rather than in judgment of how they carry it." (63 minutes)
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