Formative Professions

Photo of Marty Barrack

It is so very important that we encourage Catholic teen-agers to go into the formative professions. These are the professions which in the course of normal work forms values among the population. In particular, priests, religious, schoolteachers, college professors, politicians, doctors, lawyers, judges, journalists, and entertainers.

Say a young Catholic studies to become an engineer and builds strong bridges that last hundreds of years. It takes strong morals to build strong bridges. There is always the temptation to use substandard techniques or components that will not become evident for decades. A structurally sound bridge is a sermon in steel, but hardly anyone who drives across a bridge thinks in terms of moral strength.

We need to encourage young Catholics to enter the formative professions. In many cases, they will do so as martyrs. Some will be sidetracked into dead ends as soon as their Catholic faith is discovered. Others will conceal their Catholic faith until they have obtained tenure or other positions of power and then slowly emerge as voices of truth.

Pete Seeger wrote a song called “God Bless the Grass.” He sang of the grass that grows between the cracks in concrete sidewalks, in places where grass is not supposed to grow. The martyrs will be humbled in their professions, and Christ works through the humble. Christus laborabit. Be there; Christ will do the work.

I can really use some help with this section. Catholics in these professions are cordially invited to e-mail me insights and perspectives that might help young people considering any of these professions. At the same time, if anyone can suggest additional professions in which the primary activity is to influence the moral climate, I’ll be happy to add them.