The 2025-26 school year opened with Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Martin Center, followed by a special presentation from Father Greg Boyle, SJ, the author of the summer reading text for Upper School and faculty and staff, Cherished Belonging. Father Boyle visited Newton Country Day to share how his work with Homeboy Industries, an employment and training organization for former gang members to gain critical skills to embark on a better life, demonstrates that cherished belonging can heal division and transform communities. His message sets the stage for this year’s school-wide theme of cherished belonging, which echoes the Sacred Heart Goal of focus for 2025-26: Goal IV, the building of community as a Christian value.
Father Boyle grew up in Los Angeles and witnessed the disproportionate impact of gang violence on his community. He sought to understand the complex issue and find a solution. “I discovered early on that gang violence was about a lethal absence of hope,” Father Boyle said. “And how do you infuse hope into young people for whom hope was foreign?” He partnered with his parish, located in the area with the highest concentration of gang violence in the country, to search for “felony-friendly employers.” They found very little opportunity, so Father Boyle ventured to create it. “We just started things: maintenance crews, landscaping crews, a crew to build our childcare center—all made up of rival gang members.”
With the success of such efforts, the organization began to grow and gain the attention of the media. A local movie producer reached out and asked how he could financially support the mission. With his generous donation, Homeboy Bakery was born in 1988, which employed rival gang members to bake bread. From these humble beginnings and strong community support, Homeboy Industries has blossomed into today’s largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry program in the world.
Father Boyle, joined by Spencer (left), listens as Rafael (right) shares his transformative experience working at Homeboy Industries.
Homeboy Industries, Father Boyle explains, abides by two unwavering principles: we are all inherently good (no exceptions), and we belong to each other (no exceptions). To affirm these principles, Father Boyle was joined by two of his “homies,” Rafael and Spencer, who went through the program and experienced the life-changing impact of Father Boyle’s cultivation of cherished belonging. “I was glad that I was doing something good,” Rafael explained. “I love helping the people that come in. We see people that are broken. I used to be like that. I try to help and guide them. Being at Homeboy has been nothing but a blessing to me and to many people. I look forward to the future.”
Spencer echoed these statements, admitting he was reluctant to join Homeboy Industries at first. But he noticed something remarkable when he joined the community: “Nobody forced you to walk in those doors. You walk in alone because you want to change,” he explained. “Homeboy was the best thing that ever happened to me. Homeboy gave me a second home, an opportunity, a new life, a new chance to be me. I’m proud of myself, to be honest.”
Father Boyle’s visit invited the Newton Country Day community to reflect on how cherished belonging, while transformative in his Los Angeles community, is also a universal call to recognize the inherent good of every person, resist the forces that divide us, and stand with the marginalized. “People will accuse you of wasting your time at the margins, but that’s okay,” he says. “Because of you, other voices will be heard that were never heard before.”