Categories
HOMILIES

OUT OF BROKEN HOMES AND BROKEN HEARTS

This homily is based on Luke 2:22-40 on the Feast of the Holy Family.

I’m reading Fr. Greg Boyle’s new book, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship. Like his first book, every single chapter leaves me in tears.

In a Friday, June 4, 2010 photo, Father Gregory Boyle hugs Robert Trejo, a former gang member, in his office at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. Organizations trying to prevent youngsters from joining gangs have been hit hard by the sour economy. Homeboy Industries, which employed ex-gang members as a way of keeping them off the street, had to fire more than 300 of its workers as donations and city subsidies plummeted. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
In a Friday, June 4, 2010 photo, Father Gregory Boyle hugs Robert Trejo, a former gang member, in his office at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. Organizations trying to prevent youngsters from joining gangs have been hit hard by the sour economy. Homeboy Industries, which employed ex-gang members as a way of keeping them off the street, had to fire more than 300 of its workers as donations and city subsidies plummeted. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Categories
HOMILIES

BROKEN OPEN

51nC9KaNROL._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_This homily is based on Luke 4:14-21.

When was the last time you read a book that made you cry? Or if you haven’t read any tear-jerker lately, what was the last movie that moved you to tears?

The last book I read that reduced me to tears surprised me because it did that not just once, but several times–and so strongly that I had to put it down each time–was Fr. Greg Boyle SJ’s Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. It’s not just one story, but a collection of real-life stories of former gang members that Fr. Boyle met through his intervention program called Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles County.