Mission Week Keynotes

"Are you, in the end, successful? Naturally, I find myself heartened by Mother Teresa's take: "We are not called to be successful, but faithful." This distinction is helpful for me as I barricade myself against the daily dread of setback. You need protection from the ebb and flow of three steps forward, five steps backward. You trip over disappointment and recalcitrance every day, and it all becomes a muddle. God intends it to be, I think. For once you choose to hang out with folks who carry more burden than they can bear, all bets seem to be off. Salivating for success keeps you from being faithful, keeps you from truly seeing whoever's sitting in front of you. Embracing a strategy and an approach you can believe in is sometimes the best you can do on any given day. If you surrender your need for results and outcomes, success becomes God's business. I find it hard enough to just be faithful."

- Rev. Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion (pp. 167-168)

The 2024 Mission Week theme was Companions in Mission which reflects our opportunity to be co-collaborators in animating the worldwide mission of the Society of Jesus.

The Rev. Greg Boyle, SJ, HON’09, is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation program in the world. In May, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during a ceremony at the White House.

Fr. Boyle, who served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, California, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city, started what would become Homeboy Industries in 1988. Today, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises and provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.  

For his efforts, Fr. Boyle has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Barack Obama named Fr. Boyle a Champion of Change. Fr. Boyle is the author of the New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. Fr. Boyle received an honorary degree from Creighton in 2009. 

Thank you to the Collaborative Ministry Office, part of the Creighton University Division of Mission and Ministry, for making the lecture available.

The Rev. Gregory Boyle has a longstanding relationship with Creighton University - including kicking off the inaugural Mission Week in 2019! Be sure to view or read previous lectures given at Creighton (below) or view his 2019 Mission Week keynote using the 2019 tab in the lefthand navigation menu.

This is the story of a remarkable odd couple. There’s Father Greg Boyle, a white Jesuit priest who’s spent some 25 years in the toughest part of East LA, and then there’s the tough, street-smart, and amazingly sweet young people – all former gang members – whom G-Dog loves and helps, and who love him in turn. For Father Greg’s remedy for what he calls “a global sense of failure” for kids at-risk is radical and simple: boundless, restorative love. His unstoppable compassion has turned around the lives of thousands of Latino, Asian and African American gang members. (American Film Showcase)

Select Works by Boyle

Boyle, G. (2017). Knead to heal. In U.S. Catholic (Vol. 82, Number 6, pp. 18-). Claretian Publications.

Boyle, G. J. (2010). The challenge of serving a diverse church: being Christ for others. Catholic Education (Dayton, Ohio), 13(3), 380-391.

Boyle, G. (2005). The voice of those who sing. Spiritus, 5(1), 79–87. https://doi.org/10.1353/scs.2005.0003

Articles

Finn, M. (2010). Second-chance cafe. In Sunset, 225(5), pp. 44-). Sunset Publishing Corporation.

Gilchrist, T. (2021). HOMEGROWN HOPE: Homeboy Industries’ social enterprises provide employment opportunities, revenue and social support. Los Angeles Business Journal, 43(42), 22-.

Leibowitz, E. (2013). Saint of the hood. Los Angeles Magazine, 58(5), pp. 102-147). Los Angeles Magazine, Inc.

Steiner, M. A. (2016). Leaving gangs behind to live parables of kinship. Health Progress, 97(4), 24–26.

Where homies can heal; reforming gang members. (2012). The Economist, 402(8772), pp. 32-). Economist Intelligence Unit N.A. Incorporated.

Books

Deuchar, R. (2018). Love, compassion and therapeutic communities in Homeboy Industries. In Gangs and Spirituality (pp. 89-113). Springer International Publishing.

Flores, E. O. (2013). God’s gangs : Barrio ministry, masculinity, and gang recovery. New York University Press. 

Schockman, H. E., & Thompson, C. (2021). Workplace well-being and human flourishing: A case model of Homeboy Industries and reducing gang recidivism. In S. K. Dhiman (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being (pp. 297–317). Springer International Publishing.

Tran, D. Q., Spears, L. C., & Carey, M. R. (2020). Building relational bridges: The inclusive spirit of servant-leadership. In S. K. Dhiman & J. Marques (Eds.), New horizons in positive leadership and change: A practical guide for workplace transformation (pp. 127–142). Springer International Publishing.  

Video

Boyle, G. (2011). Father Gregory J. Boyle, S.J., founder and chief executive officer, Homeboy Industries [Conference presentation]. Community Oriented Policing Services Conference, United States.

Schmidt, E. (Director). (2012). Good bread [Short Film]. Cinelan, LLC.