How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, illness, and racism.

Budde introduces Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle, who founded Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program in the world. When Boyle started the organization, he was serving as parish priest at Dolores Mission Church, located in the highest area of gang activity in Los Angeles, California. He wanted to establish a school for gang members, and the only available building was the parish convent that housed six Belgian nuns. When he asked them to move out so that he could turn their convent into a school for gang members, the nuns had a single word in response: “Sure” (105).

Budde states that, like the nuns, people make some of their most consequential decisions seemingly on the spot, without logical consideration. A situation arises, and people respond with something like intuition; they step up to the plate. Though these decisions are characterized by immediacy, it retrospectively becomes clear that people have been preparing for longer than they realize. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Budde felt the call to step up to the plate as she, her church, and her diocese received an unprecedented number of appeals for assistance. Despite her fatigue, Budde knew that she needed to push through and serve however and wherever she could.