Catholic Answers to Careerism

From a Catholic perspective, there are two contrasting responses to careerism, the conviction that one's worth is found in professional success. The first would downgrade career and profession to the lower status of a "job," a mere means of providing our material necessities, in order to free time, energy and attention for the higher values of family and Church. This was St. Paul's attitude, for example, to his trade of tent-making: it provided his necessities in order that he could be free to preach the Gospel. This might be called an "apocalyptic" view of work as it implies that the things of this world are passing away and become devalued in deference to the coming and transcendent kingdom of heaven. Something like this was common at UPS, where I worked, among the truck drivers (not the managers) who worked long hours to provide for their families but did not glamorize their work as many prized more highly their participation in Little League, voluntary fire department, Church or community work. This view seemed to prevail, in my experience, in the early days of the Charismatic Renewal and also the Neocatechumenal Way. At least in my part of the world (NYC and Jersey City) these have predominantly attracted unsuccessful, low-income working class people and even the unemployed and disabled. The Gospel preached to these, the "poor of Yahweh," the "losers" in the competitive arena of the market economy, is a radical, unworldly one of evangelical faith, hope and love. The great value of this approach is that it radically rejects careerism; it transcends the "winner-loser" divide of our meritocracy by unifying all of us in an ecclesial community of adoration, faith and love; and it rejects, lucidly and emphatically, the "ways of the world" in favor of heavenly concerns. A second approach finds in work and career itself a religious vocation or profession. This might be called an "incarnational" approach since heavenly values themselves take flesh in work. The happiness of this approach is that work itself becomes worship of God and service of out brethren. This view is especially pronounced in movements like Opus Dei and Communion and Liberation, which seem to attract highly educated, professional, service-oriented people. In this approach, work and career themselves express one's deepest religious aspirations. My own children are reflective of this: psychologist, theologian, physician's assistant, teacher, social worker, lawyer and nurse. The challenge of this path is to remain "in the world" without becoming "of the world" especially in the privileged, empowered status that comes with competence and expertise and distances us from those who are unable to achieve success. Sustained attention to the needy and dedication to service are, happily, the pathway to meeting this challenge. My life has reflected the first option, the "apocalyptic," as I spent 25 years in quite a decent "job" (not really much of a career) in UPS and just over half that much time in low-pay, low-status service as religion teacher ("catechist" actually) and manager of a residence for low-income women.