Father James Martin’s ‘Work in Progress’

Father James Martin is one of the country’s most popular and well-known Jesuit priests. He grew up outside Philadelphia in a family of “lukewarm” Catholics, who observed religious rituals without much thought. Martin has said, as a child he had a largely transactional relationship with God.

Father Martin once thought he’d work in the corporate world, but after a few years in New York City, he realized he hated his life. Now he’s written a new memoir about the many summer jobs he had as a kid and how they prepared him for the priesthood. It’s titled Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool and Priest.

He joins us this week to share the lessons he learned growing up, how he found his calling with the Jesuits, and his thoughts on today’s many moral and political conflicts.