God is compassion.

I feel called to be faithful.

I didn't take my vows to the LAPD.

I've never met an evil person ever.

God can get tiny if we're not careful.

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

I wouldn't trade my life for anybody's.

Richard Rohr is a theologian that I read.

I'm not always optimistic, but I am hopeful.

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

There is no 'them' and 'us.' There is only us.

I have never seen a hopeful person join a gang.

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

Showing up in the lives of children is everything.

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

The business of second chances is everybody's business.

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

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

Young people can change and grow. Every parent knows that.

You are so much more than the worst thing you've ever done.

Even gang members imagine a future that doesnt include gangs.

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

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

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

Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez - these are people whose thoughts are so important.

We can't just settle for the low bar of pope as media-savvy, canny Curia manager.

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

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

My job isn't to fix or rescue or to save. It's to accompany, see people, listen to them.

I think that any program that's born from below rather than on high is going to survive.

I don't believe in mistakes. Everything belongs, and, as the homies say, 'It's all good.'

The task of dealing comprehensively with gangs belongs to the city, not to law enforcement.

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

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

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

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

We need a pope to oversee not simply a modernization of the church but its total transformation.

The church needs a pope who can call us to conversion and lead us to take seriously what Jesus did.

The mark of our society as civilized will come when we embrace confidence in the power of redemption.

You can't reason with gang violence: you can't talk to it, sit it at the table, and negotiate with it.

The poor evangelize you about what's important and what is the Gospel, and that that's where the joy is.

We don't need a specialized gang unit. We need patrol officers who specialize in knowing their community.

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

If you are paying attention, then the day is going to be pretty joyful, and a lot of delight will fill it.

Gangs are born of a lethal absence of hope, and hope has an address: 130 W. Bruno St. in Los Angeles, CA 90012.

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.

Me wanting a gang member to have a different life would never be the same as that gang member wanting to have one.

The power of community policing is in the relationship. This can happen only if an officer sticks around for a while.

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 founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 after I buried my first young person killed in our streets because of gang violence.

Share This Page