Countless thousands of former Los Angeles gang members have had their lives transformed -- in some instances, literally saved -- thanks to Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang rehab and re-entry program. Yet ministry is not about saving the world or saving people, says the organization's founder and executive director, Father Gregory Boyle.
Ministry aimed at saving people and the world instead leads to burnout, he said.
"If the intent is to save people, or even to help people, then it works that way," Boyle said. "You're going to be depleted."
For Boyle, ministry is never about depletion.
"It used to be, when I used to think my job was saving lives," he said. "But now I think saving lives is for the Coast Guard.
"Our choice always is the same: save the world or savor it. And I vote for savoring it. And, just because everything is about something else, if you savor the world, somehow -- go figure -- it's getting saved."
