Cherished Belonging, Gregory Boyle
Cherished Belonging, Gregory Boyle
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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Cherished Belonging
The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times

Author: Gregory Boyle

Narrator: Gregory Boyle

Unabridged: 8 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/05/2024


Synopsis

In a world increasingly marked by division and discord, beloved Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle offers a transformative vision of community and compassion—a perfect message for readers of Anne Lamott, Mary Oliver, and Richard Rohr.

Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed tens of thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering principles: 1) We are all inherently good (no exceptions), and 2) we belong to each other (no exceptions).

Boyle believes that these two ideas allow all of us to cultivate a new way of seeing the world. Rather than the tribalism that excludes and punishes, this new narrative proposes a village that cherishes. Pooka, a former gang member, puts it plainly: “Here, love is our lens. It is how we see things.”

In Cherished Belonging, Boyle calls back to Christianity’s origins as a spiritual movement of equality, emancipation, and peace. Early Christianity was a way of life—not a set of beliefs. Boyle’s vision of community is a space for people to join together and heal one another in a new collective living, a world dedicated to kindness as a constant and radical act of defiance. As one homie, Marcus, told a classroom filled with inner-city teenagers, “If love was a place, it would be Homeboy.”

Cherished Belonging invites us to nurture the connections that are all around us and live with kindness. Boyle believes that “the answer to every question is, indeed, compassion.” Through colorful and profound stories brimming with wisdom, humor, and inspiration, we understand that love is the light inside everything.

About Gregory Boyle

Gregory Boyle is an American Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world. In 2024, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’s highest civilian honor. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. He is the acclaimed author of Tattoos on the Heart, Barking to the Choir, and The Whole LanguageCherished Belonging is his fourth book, and he will be donating all net proceeds to Homeboy Industries. Visit the author at HomeboyIndustries.org.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on December 03, 2024

No one is evil. Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and we belong to each other (no exceptions). This is the theme, repeated over and over, of “Cherished Belonging” by Father Gregory Boyle. While I see his point, it is going to take a lot of spiritual stretching to fully embrace this. Father......more

Goodreads review by Debbi on October 22, 2024

Another wonderful book from Father Greg. Although my beliefs aren't entirely aligned with the authors he delivers a powerful message of acceptance, compassion and open heartedness. His message is Christian, however he offers stories that have a universal thread. Homeboy Industries is featured promin......more

Goodreads review by Grace on April 18, 2025

this book called me OUT. feeling super challenged (in a good way) by his message. if you have been grappling in recent years, months, days with how to be in such a divided world as someone who follows jesus - this is your book. but expect to have your ass handed to you. also small plug for his other......more

Goodreads review by Claire on May 11, 2025

Everyone should read this book (and if you do, I’d love to hear your thoughts)! Hard but holy if anything has ever lived up to that. I wonder if we’ll get to see the canonization of Fr. Greg in our lifetimes......more

Goodreads review by Julia on November 19, 2024

a very timely book, grateful for greg boyle and his reminders of our unshakable goodness......more