Becky's Great Book Reviews Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

Attending one of Gregory Boyles' talks in November in Appleton, WI, I didn't know what to expect as I hadn't heard too much about him. Engaging, hilarious, and eloquent, Father Boyle humbly and quietly spoke of his life's work while I (and probably everyone there) was transfixed, laughing and tearing up alternately. Accompanying him were two "homies" (as he puts it) who gave testimony to how they have been affected by Homeboy Industries. It was an honor to witness the respect and love they have for "G", as they refer to him. His book, Tattoos on the Heart, became a must-read.

In 1986, he became pastor of Delores Mission Church. It was nestled in the middle of two large public housing projects with eight active gangs - the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angelos (i.e. the world?). As a result of so many kids hanging around the area because of being expelled from school, the first thing he did was to start an alternative school, followed by a bakery and a silk-screening business to employ the "homies", as he puts it. Thus, Homeboy Industries was born.

His idea in working with people in the roughest gangs in Los Angeles is not so much to help them, per se, but to stand with them. In fact, he says that Homeboy Industries "is not for those that need help, it's for those that want it". He strives for kinship, rather than success stories. He writes in Tattoos on the Heart that compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded, but rather a covenant between equals. Father Gregory Boyle (G-dog as he is known in his area), writes, "I just want to share my life with the poor, regardless of result". Mother Theresa comes to mind.

As of 2010, when this book was published, Gregory Boyle had seen one hundred and sixty-eight homies buried. (What would it be now, fifteen years later?) These were all young people shot down (or beat) by rival gang members, sometimes not even because of being involved in gang culture themselves but simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the flipside of this heartbreak, countless people have been employed and touched by Father Boyle's mission. Numerous funny anecdotes pepper the pages of Tattoos on the Heart, breathing life into the community he tells about. He writes and talks about "homie-propisms", as he puts it: one fellow kept subbing the word genitals for Gentiles while referring to the bible; another came to him seeking a free lawyer, a "Sonny Bono", as he put it; yet another, upon hearing of Father Greg's cancer at the time exclaimed, "Of course your white blood cell count is high. YOU'RE WHITE!"

Father Greg writes that people often ask him what it's like to have rival gang members working side by side at Homeboy Industries. He answers, "it becomes impossible to demonize someone you know". He asks for people to close both their eyes and see with your other one. By doing this "we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgements, our ceaseless withholding, our constant exclusion".

One might think Father Greg presents with a halo around his head. But it is because of his relatability and humanity that he is so well-received. He meets homies where they are, not shrinking from their foul language, slang and non-conformity to Catholic values as one might expect a Catholic priest to do. Father Greg refers to Thomas Merton who said, "We discover our true selves in love." Gregory Boyle personifies this and sets an example for how to live life. He writes that "the core of the endeavor of Homeboy Industries is to seek to imitate the kind of God one ought to believe in." If this is the one takeaway of all Father Gregory Boyle has done in his life, he would probably be happy. I give this memoir five stars out of five. https://youtube.com/shorts/sSgaePdIFFQ?si=1QcJIdLfRWaQWNSA