259 Nov 30 Father Greg Boyle provides "A Recipe for Tenderoni"
Day 259 November 30th 2020
Dear Friend, There is a Buddhist slogan: “Be grateful to everyone.” I would add…for everything. Part of our culture at Homeboy Industries is to allow tenderness to permeate our lives. This is the great revelation of Homeboy Industries. It is the tender glance that allows us to have grateful hearts and to be thankful to everyone, for everything. In this way, we all find the courage of our tenderness. Then, a sense of security and mutual trust can be restored. It is from this grounded, heart-place where people are radically known.
We then dedicate ourselves to thankfulness and choose to live in what Rumi calls, “Love’s confusing joy.”
A homie named Leo would always well up with tears at the drop of a hat full of affection. He’d say to me plaintively, “I don’t know why I’m so tenderoni.” He confided further: “I’m just an emotional person. I even cried at the ‘Wedding Singer’ with Adam Sandler!”
Whenever he’d cry in my office, I’d remind him of the huge gift this was. It was the thing that allowed him to greet others with awe, honesty and human welcome. Leo came to know that being “tenderoni” was the scaffolding that held up his ability to be a father and in relationship.
When he came to inhabit, more and more, his true self in loving, he told me one day, “I wish my dad could have seen me doing good. He only saw me messing up.” I had buried his father a year before. I told him that his dad was smiling down on him and intensely proud. “Yeah,“ he tells me, “I suppose… But it’s not the same.” Then he perks up. “Imagine my dad and me…both of us going to work in the morning…and at the end of the day…arriving home at the same time. Imagine?” The image Leo conjures was enough to make us both…”tenderoni”…basking in “love’s confusing joy.”
We will not soon forget 2020 and still our hearts are aware of the abundance that surrounds us. We know what we have and realize that gratitude is not possible unless we do. All of us at Homeboy Industries are deeply appreciative of the generous and selfless ways you’ve walked with us, especially during these past trying months. Indeed, you make it exceedingly easy for us, to be grateful to everyone…for everything. May God bless you now and always, Greg Boyle
BOOK from Amazing Sisters
Thank you for reading Global Sisters
Report!
Advent marks the start of the new liturgical year, and as a gift of appreciation during this not-so-normal year, we at Global Sisters Report want to share an e-book featuring some reflections by sisters during this pandemic that touched us, made us smile, reminded us of joy amid our sorrow -- and to cherish, even in this most difficult time, moments of grace. We hope you will take a few moments to read, enjoy, and reflect on the offerings of this special gift. Blessings to you and all those you hold dear during this Advent and Christmas season and the New Year.
Download it here:
https://www.globalsistersreport.org/sites/default/files/Moments%20of%20Grace%20E-Book%202020.pdf
Another Offering from JustFaith
Advent Meditations: A JustFaith Series
Week 1: Peace
Dear Member of the JustFaith Network,
We are grateful that you are a part of our JustFaith community. Whether you are a graduate of one of our programs or you are just getting to know us, we hope this Advent meditation will help sustain you spiritually and equip you to work for justice.
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In the meantime, we’re offering tips and tools for facilitating all of our current programs virtually.
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While we hope that this weekly resource will spiritually sustain your community while distancing, now is also the perfect time to start one of our 8-week programs on racial justice, immigration, nonviolence, eco-justice, hunger, advocacy and organizing, or the integration of spirituality and action. Click here to explore our program offerings.
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In solidarity,
The JustFaith Ministries Staff