Top quotes by Greg Boyle

I always have a funny story at communion time that underscores that no one is perfect, and that communion is not for perfect people but for hungry people. Votes: 17

You stand with the least likely to succeed until success is succeeded by something more valuable: kinship. You stand with the belligerent, the surly and the badly behaved until bad behavior is recognized for the language it is: the vocabulary of the deeply wounded and of those whose burdens are more than they can bear. Votes: 15

When the vastness of God meets the restriction of our own humanity, words can't hold it. The best we can do is find the moments that rhyme with this expansive heart of God. Votes: 15

I know two L.A.s. Half my life was around the house my folks had for 46 years at 3rd and Norton. The other half was in Boyle Heights on the Eastside, working with gang members. Votes: 13

My church is in the detention facilities where I preside and celebrate the Eucharist. To me that's the church. That's the people of God. Votes: 12

Does God feel like that same-sex marriage could happen? I don't think anybody who has a connection to God and God's understanding and depth of compassion who's gonna say 'no.' Votes: 11

Businesses have come and gone at Homeboy Industries. We have had starts and stops, but anything worth doing is worth failing at. We started Homeboy Plumbing. That didn't go so well. Who knew? People didn't want gang members in their homes. I just didn't see that coming. Votes: 11

The desire of God's heart is immeasurably larger than our imaginations can conjure. Votes: 10

Most employers just aren't willing to look beyond the dumbest or worst thing someone has done. Votes: 9

All politics are local, and so in church. Votes: 8

Kids are different from adults. They are not as developed as far as brain science, controlling impulses, and maturity, and fall prey to all kinds of pressures. Votes: 8

Even gang members imagine a future that doesn't include gangs. Votes: 8

Ours is a God who waits. So who are we not to? Votes: 7

Young people can change and grow. Every parent knows that. Votes: 6

Close both eyes see with the other one. Then we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments our ceaseless withholding our constant exclusion. Our sphere has widened and we find ourselves quite unexpectedly in a new expansive location in a place of endless acceptance and infinite love. Votes: 6

God seems to be an unwilling participant in our efforts to pigeonhole Him. Votes: 5

People have to see that there is a high degree of complexity about belonging to a gang. It's a symptom, not a problem. Votes: 5

We need the disruption of categories that lead us to abandon the difficult, the disagreeable, and the least likely to go very far. Votes: 5

Jesus did not only serve the needs of the people, but truly hoped that the people and Jesus would be one. Votes: 4

Don't forget, you are the hero of your own story. Votes: 4

I work with gang members, and I feel a kind of affinity and gift, even. But who would've thunk it, you know? I mean, I didn't anticipate it. Votes: 4

Redemption is possible, and it is the measure of a civilized society. Votes: 4

At its best, an injunction creates a kind of vigilant heat that moves kids toward the light. Votes: 4

The arms of God reach to embrace, and somehow you feel yourself just outside God's fingertips. Votes: 3

We lose our right to be surprised that California has the highest recidivism rate in the country if we refuse to hire folks who have taken responsibility for their crimes and have done their time. Votes: 3

Homeboy Bakery is an alternative to kids who have found themselves, regrettably, in gangs and want to redirect their lives. Votes: 3

I don't save people. God saves people. I can point them in the right direction. I can say, 'There's that door. I think if you walked through it, you'd be happier than you are.' Votes: 2

The business of second chances is everybody's business. Votes: 2

The Church should say, 'I'm frightened that women will be ordained;' that's honest, say that. But don't say, 'It's a grave sin,' because that's nonsense. Votes: 1

I'm the priest who has been mistaken for an ATM machine. Votes: 1

The margins don't get erased by simply insisting that the powers-that-be erase them. Votes: 0

I kinda don't do guilt. I gave it up for Lent years ago. Votes: 0

I want to be prophetic and take stands and stand with those on the margins, and I want to laugh as much as I can. Votes: 0

Gangs are bastions of conditional love, and one of the ways to counteract it is to offer community, which will always trump gang, and that's what happens at Homeboy Industries. Votes: 0

We ought not to demonize a single gang member, and we ought not to romanticize a single gang. Votes: 0

In Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world, we have 1,100 gangs and 120,000 gang members so it is a daunting, complex social dilemma. Votes: 0

Homeboy Industries has chosen to stand with the 'demonized' so that the demonizing will stop; it stands with the 'disposable' so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away. Votes: 0

W a gang member, and especially in a Latino gang, gets jumped in, and then he's given a name, and he has that name forever, but it's not so much the name as being called by name. Votes: 0

There is no 'them' and 'us.' There is only us. Votes: 0

You are exactly what God had in mind when he made you. Votes: 0

Even gang members imagine a future that doesnt include gangs. Votes: 0

God can get tiny, if we're not careful. Votes: 0

If there is a fundamental challenge within these stories, it is simply to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than other lives. Votes: 0