Boyle is a Jesuit priest and the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. My daughter Amy has toured the ministry and heard Father Greg speak there before. She liked the book so much she gave me a copy for Christmas.
Homeboy Industries is located in the middle of the two largest public-housing projects in LA. This makes the mission "ground zero" for gang activity in what is generally acknowledged as the gang capital of the world, Los Angeles. LA County claims 1,100 gangs numbering some 86,000 members. Homeboy Industries was founded to give gang members who are ready to give up gang life a second chance. The ministry offers job placement, training, education and encouragement.
The book is not a "how to" about ministering to gang members though. Instead the book is a series of parables told very humorously and effectively. The author is an amazing storyteller and he does a fantastic job weaving real-life stories together with important lessons. The parables are vignettes about grace, forgiveness, compassion, love and resurrection, all distilled from Father Boyles' twenty-plus years in the barrio. I found myself alternately laughing and crying, often in the same short chapter. Believe me, the book will help you see people - and God - in a very different way.
As you can tell - I can't hardly recommend this book enough! Tolle Lege!
Title: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
Author: Gregory Boyle
Publisher: Free Press
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Paperback: 217 pages
ISBN: 9781439153024
So glad you enjoyed it :).
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