Young people can change and grow. Every parent knows that.
— Greg Boyle
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.
I'm the priest who has been mistaken for an ATM machine.
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.
The employer is not going to choose the gang member who's just been released from prison: they're going to choose the person with the skills.
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.
People have to see that there is a high degree of complexity about belonging to a gang. It's a symptom, not a problem.
I kinda don't do guilt. I gave it up for Lent years ago.
You are so much more than the worst thing you've ever done.
I have never seen a hopeful person join a gang.
People have started to see that 'smart on crime' rather than 'tough on crime' makes sense.
Jesus did not only serve the needs of the people, but truly hoped that the people and Jesus would be one.
No kid is seeking anything when he joins a gang; he's always fleeing something. He's not being pulled; he's being pushed by the circumstances in which he finds himself.
