JOURNEYING WITH YOUTH
Our graduating students may remember learning about Fr Greg Boyle SJ, a Californian Jesuit, as part of the Year 10 Religious Education program. For me, Fr Greg is a person who embodies human excellence as he seeks to make present the transforming love of Christ present in our world. As a young priest in the mid 1980s he served as the parish priest of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights – the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city.
Over the next six years he witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence, including gang-related killings. He came to understand very deeply that one of the root causes of the violence was the absence of hope.
In 1988, Fr Greg, with the assistance of others, established Homeboy Industries, a not-for-profit organisation that has offered employment over the last 36 years through a variety of 13 social enterprises to former gang members. This includes recycling electronics, a bakery, a café, silk screening and embroidery, an online market and a farmers’ market.
Fr Greg Boyle SJ receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden at the White House in May this year. Image courtesy: JesuitsWest.
At the core of Fr Greg’s philosophy is our belief that we are each made in the image and likeness of our God and that we are truly loveable. He wants to give people a second chance, so they can leave their past behind. Fr Greg is an extraordinary storyteller who preaches the importance of unconditional love, compassion and kindness. He puts forward the idea that communities need to become places of radical kinship, of genuine mutuality and love. This is the vision of life that Jesus came and modelled for us.
Recently, our Year 12 students gave us a taste of this vision of life through their pioneering Marathon for A Cause, coming together and stretching themselves for the benefit of others. It was inspirational to see the students running around the College at various points of the day and night as the final opportunity for them, as students, to give expression to their desire to be young men for and with others.
Schools exist as an expression of a hope-filled future. When your parents enrolled you at the College, they not only hoped you would come here and make the most of all the opportunities, but also that one day this College would be a place that you will go from, walking forth as young men of faith, hope and love. I have every confidence that our Class of 2024 will go forth with your hearts on fire, and, in your own way, seek to be a transforming presence in our world, grounded in your deep commitment to fostering and encouraging relationships, drawing from the wellspring of your collective flames burning brightly.
Throughout your life you will be called upon to be people of discernment, courage and compassion as you make decisions, both large and small each day. I pray that you will draw upon your experience here so that you can make good decisions, indeed the better choices each day. For each of you, this is how you can strive for the magis in life. As you do this, I encourage you to remember the following words of Fr Greg Boyle:
We always seem to be faced with this choice: to save the world or savour it. I want to propose that savouring is better, and that when we seek to “save” and “contribute” and “give back” and “rescue” folks and EVEN “make a difference”, then it is all about you … and the world stays stuck. …… The good news, of course, is that when we choose to savour the world, it gets saved. Don’t set out to change the world. Set out to wonder how people are doing.
As you go forth from the College as the newest Old Ignatians, may you continue to be focused on others, open to genuine encounters of mutuality with those whom you live, work and socialise with, and with people who find themselves on the margins of our society and our world. Be people who savour the world, as well as the friendships and relationships you are blessed to experience. Be courageous enough to ask others how they are going, to be people who listen and walk with others, even when it is uncomfortable and you are not sure how best to respond.
Banner image by olaser, Canva.
To enquire about becoming a Jesuit in Australia, contact vocations@sjasl.org.au and for more info, visit our Vocations page.