We are open to the christmas he can stop by anytime we have plenty of books on the shelves please remember to turn your phones on silent so we dont have disturbances during the course of the program. Afterwards there will be assigning. Please stay seated in that way i can release row by row if you want to get your book signed. Not a requirement. If theres anybody handicap you can get in their first the we can get in there in an orderly fashion. Gregory is the founder of Homeboy Industries in los angeles. The largest gain Reinvention Program in the world. His is just what priest and he served as a pastor. In 1988 Community Members started well become Homeboy Industries. It employs and trains former gang members in a range of enterprises and Critical Services to men and women who walk through it Stores Every Year seeking a better life. His the author of tattoos on the heart. The power of boundless compassion. Tonight were celebrating his newest endeavor, please join me in welcoming father greg boyle. [applause] thank you. I know im not in a Catholic Church because usually theres a clock up there. [laughter] so, i will have to rely on my watch. Two of my favorite locations on the whole planet and that would be all Saints Church in romans bookstore. [applause] will probably tell stories from the book and little talk for a little bit and then theres a microphone there so theyll do some questions will sign books and it will be over. Pretty painless. Its a privilege of my life for 30 years and have worked with gang members into know several who are here we went out to dinner, did you get good seats . There you are. I wanted to eyeball it. Home is that ive known for a lot of years theyre going to come to this event said lets have dinner. You help me reshape my heart to reimagine how to be in the world and how to imitate the kind of god we have. Ellipsis without measure and regret. Theres a homey once name those who is a force of nature and did a lot of things and then he would give a lot of talks. Will take my tax or send them to schools and then pretty soon there into man. Lewis had this experience for he was very much invited to speak. We went up to dinner and he was given me tips on how to speak publicly. He said you have to pepper your talk with selfdeprecating humor. [laughter] i said yeah, no thats good advice there so this is why think youre here, not mirror book, so longing that people have today in a special way to imagine the world looking a little bit differently than it currently looks. Mother teresa diagnose worlds problem when he said she said the problem is that we forgot that we have belong to each other. How do we imagine a circle of compassion and then imagine nobody standing outside that circle . So, the invitationonly elf lewis to ensure way out to the margins, some things can happen if we go out there. Our experience is that if we stand at the margins look under our feet the margins get erased because we chose to stand there. A particularly with the group of favorite folks we stand with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless we stand with those whose dignity has been denied. We stand with those whose burdens are more than that they can bear. Everybody in this church has had the great privilege of being able to stand with the readily despised with the demonized. With the disposable so the day will come only stop throwing people away. What we long for his kinship in creating a community of kinship such that god might recognize it. We have come to believe no kinship no peace, no caps shipped no justice no kinship no equality. No matter how focused we may be on the schools commits our experience actually can happen unless theres a sense that were standing against forgetting that we belong to each other. So we go to the margins away brace ourselves because people will accuse ourselves of wasting our time. But the prophet Jeremiah Wrights this place in which you say there is a waste therell be heard again the voice of gladness, the voices of those who say. I think youre here tonight because you long for voices to be heard. Not mine, but the folks at the margin. Everything depends on the type of god we have. We settle for a partial god, lesser god when theres a god we actually have as opposed to the god we have settled for. The god we have a spacious and expansive and is too busy loving us to have time left to be disappointed in us. They have endlessly taught me who that god is everyday without fail. A lot of times they teach me by way of this mangling of the english language i find helpful like i had a girl named lisa come in and she wanted to introduce her man to me. Had come to pick her up at the end of the day, and their standing in front of my desk and she says, this is my sufficient other. [laughter] and i said no doubt, one of the great blessings of the last two years is that i dont have to be ceo. I have a ceo who a story about cash flow budgets. I dont have to. I can be here with you. So thats nice. I had a homey come in my office in the morning and i said damn, my bet that is in a bad mood today. Shes beginning her administration. And i said well, i just finish mine. So i kind of know what shes going through. [laughter] my favorite one happened when i was presiding at mass in those days it was a big jim. Like 500 folding chairs and gang members mostly boys, males and like one roll girls. I was sitting in the presenters chair when they had these sheets that have the readings in english and spanish. His resting on my lap so i set out to listen to the world proclaimed him not to read along. The home is get up one at a time first reading. The guy got up to do the song i had my eyes closed and listening in this kind an overabundance of confidence and he says, the war is exhausted. [laughter] and i said what the hell . I located this sheet and it said the lord is exalted. I remember thinking at the time, while that is way better. I think the exalted god is our own invention. Lets face it. Thats what we would want to be. We create god in our own image. We would want to be exalted. I dont know, who wants to spend eternity with a god who wants that her needs that. Anyway says, you know youve created god in your image when god hates the same people you do but i like the exhausted god, the one that extends godself and sacrifice and loving and giving. But its a good tire. You know how he said, its a good tire. I had the good grandkids all weekend, pooped, but its a good tire. I think thats what our god has in mind. I think its essential that somehow we connect to the god we actually have. Therell always be moments when we know where the presence of the god we have. People remember when dylan roof killed those people in that Church Mother manual church, gun them down during a bible study, but everybody remembers a week or so later the family members standing in front of them and they said, we forgive you, everyone knew that we are in the presence of the god we actually have nine months later when they sentence him to be executed when people called it gods justice. When then you knew you had wandered into the vicinity of the god we have settled for. The partial god, the lesser god the more realistic god we want to be anchored in the god who Saint Ignatius and that god is always greater the god who allows us without measure and regret we want to be anchored there because we want gods dream to come true which is to create a community of kinship that god might recognize us in the homeys have to me everything of value. Im eternally grateful, but in the last few years theyve taught me how to text. It sure beats the heck out of actually talking to people. And im pretty good at lol and omg, and they tell me a new one, oh and which apparently stands for, oh hell no. Use email and quite a bit lately. I can be vexed by this thing so i have a girl named bertha and she texted me on a sunday, where you at i said im about to speak for a roomful of sisters, nuns i percent, autocorrect said i was about to form engines. [laughter] which she thought was pretty darn interesting. Home is even now before he came a flake the hairs on fire and i just need this amount of money to pay my rent weather going to cut off my lights or whatever so this one time the homey called me and he needed a hundred dollars to finish his rent and i didnt have it so i texted things are tight. Ellipsis and an autocorrect told him id tie. [laughter] songs are tight and he wrote back, sorry to hear that. What about my rights to older hallways could go with me to speak at a school after a morning meeting at Homeboy Industries we got the car were going to drive to palm desert. Manuals in the front seat and he gets incoming text and he reads it to himself and chuckles and he says its a down. As from snoopy back at the office. While i had just seems to be. Snoopy and a manual Work Together at the clocking room where they clock and hundreds of gang members. Its a hard job, i would not want it. Occasionally gang members can be attitudinal. So would not want this job. I said was he saying. He said its dumb. He said its me snoops, they got my slacked up in county jail. Theyre charging me with being the ugliest in america. You have to come down right now its the wrong guy. [laughter] well i nearly drove into oncoming traffic. We left so damn hard. Then i realize that manual is snoopy or enemies from rival gangs they used to shoot bullets at each other because i remember another shoot text messages. And theres a word for that the skull kinship. How do we obliterate the illusion that we are separate that there is an a set of them. All of us are called to be enlightened witnesses. To return people to themselves at homeboy were allergic to the notion of holding the bar up asking gang members to measure up instead we hold the mirror up until people the truth and that your truth is more your truth and its all the same truth. And heres the truth, you are exactly what god had in mind when god made you. Then you watch folks, especially those on the margins who become that truth and no bullet can pierce it no prison wall can keep it out and death cant touch it because its huge part of what were called to do is to reach an and dismantle the messages of shame and disgrace that get in the way they keep people from seeing their truth. The principal suffering of the poor is to say the principal suffering of the poor is shame and disgrace. So, we listen to the acts of the apostle and we recognize in an odd sense in their that when you look at the health of any community at all. Ellipsis simply and all came upon everyone. That the measure of our health as a community may well reside in our ability to stand and all and with the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment and how they carry it so, i give a lot of talks and get invited. Years ago is invited to speak with 600 social workers in richmond, and virginia. I said yes because i say yes to stuff. And i knew is an all day service from nine until five. I thought maybe i would do an opening keynote or speak at lunch or at the end so i bought my ticket and a week before i was to fly i pulled out the letter and to my horror i discover that i am to be the only speaker all day him day, from nine until five. And i said oh hail no circle to homeys and, trainees who were gang members in her 18 Month Training Program and i send them down and said look, youre fine with me at the end of the week to richmond, virginia. Like you to get up and tell your story. Take your time. Lack because we have a long day to fill. I never heard their stories before san jose gets up first 25 years old at the time and a trainee in her 18 month program, gang member, felon parolee. He is finishing up his 18 month is very valued member of our Substance Abuse team, a man solid in his own recovery. And now he was helping younger homeys with their addiction issues. So, he had was in prison for a long time but he had a long stretch of time is a homeless man in an even longer stretch as a heroin addict say gets up in front of the 600 social workers and he says, i guess you can say my mom and me, we didnt get along so good. I think i was six when she looked at me and said, dont you just kill yourself, youre such a burden to me. 600 social workers audibly gasped and he said, it sounds way worse spanish and we got whiplash going from gas to laugh he said i think i was nine when my mom drove me to to the deepest part of Baja California and she walks me up to an orphanage she knocks on the door when that guy comes to the door she says, i found this kid and she left me there for 90 days until my grandmother could get out of where she dont mean that my grandmother rescued me. My mom beat me every single day of my Elementary School years with things you you could imagine a lot of things he couldnt. Every day my back was bloodied and scarred. In fact, i had two or three tshirts to school every day. First tshirt because the blood was seethrough. Second tshirt you could still see it. Finally the third tshirt you couldnt see blood. Kids at school would make fun of me. Hey fool its a hundred degrees. Why you wear in three tshirts . And then he stopped speaking, so overwhelmed with emotion. He seemed to be staring at a piece of his story that only he could see and when he could regain his speech he said through his tears, i wore three tshirts well into my adult years because i was ashamed of my wounds. I did not want anybody to see them. But now i welcome my wounds. I run my fingers over my scars my wounds are my friend. After all, how can i help heal the wounded if i dont welcome my own wounds. All came upon everyone the measure of our compassion plays [inaudible] our service of those on the margin. But only in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them. For the hallways have taught me if you dont welcome your wounds, you may well be tempted to despise the wounded. I am bearing joses mother this saturday. So, we dont go to the margins to make a difference, we go to the margin so the folks at the margins make us different. Pretty soon we cease to care if anyone accuses us of wasting our time. For in this place for which you say it is a waste there will be heard again the voice of mirth and gladness, the voices of those who sing. I think you came here tonight because you long for gods dream come true. That we be a community of kinship such that god might recognize it. Thank you. [applause] [applause] thank you. They said half hour and by god, i think were going to questions. Really have time for a few questions. We have all lot of people to get to be for the signing portion so get five people who can line up right here. Is your hand if you have questions. Please come up and you sir. Thank you very much. Im a teacher in the school system. I look at a lot of the kids a speak about. Could you talk about how you keep your balance. Undoubtedly the work you do wears you out. He takes a deep breath now he is sobbing and flips the light switch on and says so with remarkable discoveries that the light is better than the darkness. That is my life going from burnout to never again. I never tried to tie like turn the light switch on again it is enough to own it and know where to aim it that is important. To make a difference should be questioned because that is about me. If i go to the margins i just want to make a difference. Saving lives is for the coast guard and somehow so how do you reach them . For starters, stop trying to reach them. And it turns the whole thing on its end. And then to delight now suddenly you are just cherishing. It is called its alive. You can say a lot of other things any that doesnt leave you feeling cherished. And allow yourself to be reached to this exclusive mutuality. In entering into the fullness that does not deeply but only fills you. But you have to catch yourself saving the reaching the fixing and the delivering of a message. The sooner you let go of that then all you have is a flashlight and you know where to aim it. [applause] hi. I run a Lending Library near you. You are never open. I have all these books to give you. [laughter] we are opening our new home in the boyle hotel. Thats why you are never open the act that in fact we are having our opening day. I have bags of books. We will let you drop them off if you will bless our home. I was going to ask. So i need to know is there a book that got inside you that never let go or never run out of . To kill a mockingbird there are all these weird ones that there are these classics like grapes of wrath i dont know if i am the right person to ask that question. But for kids i always recommend that because of that kind of experience. The question that i have change i noticed that when you mentioned and to work with a long time ago the question is no longer about us it is about the children we all lived at the margin and one point in time that you have lived there. If we live in los angeles we lived there. But this little being is holy and lately jesus christ. I have a group of students coming from a privileged background who want nothing more to look at you and meet jesus christ but they walk every day and they are told every day they are different and then to be touched in the heart so if you could channel christ again would you do it . What do i say to my seventh graders . But my parents wont let me what do we allow to have this little one field on completely comfortable and loving. So i will go over here and you can tell her everything she needs to know. Thank you. I did a podcast asking about jesus i remember preaching it at this huge Mega Christian church. With the screens in the 10000 people but your story is good but do you bring christ to the gang members . And i said no, they bring christ to me. So when you introduce christ to the gang member . And immediately and the power of the relationship and to see jesus . And then you choose to take seriously what jesus took seriously, inclusion, nonviolence, unconditional compassion, and acceptance. Then you try to stay anchored in that. It isnt a set of beliefs that authentic gospel living. So when will be goldberg is asked name a living person you most admire and she said pope francis and said he goes with the original program. [laughter] you want to introduce the original program to kids because it is pretty compelling because it is radical and beyond a system of beliefs to go into the mortgage and where the stranger is there to be the trustworthy guide. Were there any other stories that really made you emotional . What a good question. Yes. A lot of stories make me emotional. Do you want me to get emotional . Laughmac i can do it if you want me to. I remember when two of our workers were gunned down about one month apart in the second one died. It was de