In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

Fr. Martin has produced a moving, thought-provoking work that places the phenomenon of religious vocation in a modern context and explores deeply and honestly the motivations behind and struggles within the discernment of a call to ordained service. An earlier reviewer seems to have missed Fr. Martin's lengthy commentary in the last chapter on the individual vows (including chastity); but in addition, I suspect that the author didn't elaborate more fully on his own relationship experience as he didn't seem to have much time for girlfriends -- either at college or at GE. As a devout Catholic, I was greatly pleased to find a book that finally manages to elucidate something that has been grossly misunderstood in popular culture: that the priesthood is a vocation, not an escape. Congratulations to Fr. Martin on a truly stunning accomplishment; this should be required reading for all Catholics, lapsed and practicing.

This is one great book. Who would believe that a charter member of America's corporate culture with the gold rolex, the rep tie and the ray bans to prove it could do such a total about face and accept the calling to become a Jesuit priest bound by iron vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience? And yet, no lie, this is what this book is all about. Martin is simply magnificent in he way he draws the contrast between his old corporate life as a human resources executive with General Electric and his new life as a Jesuit novice. The descriptions of GE in the merger mania, downsizing, and frenzy of the 1980's are vivid and by turns frightening and amusing to say the least. His descriptions of his spiritual journey are candid and self-deprecating. However, the old habits die hard. Martin's writing is brisk and spare like the memos in the business world he left behind. The meandering intellectualization and name-dropping of somebody like Thomas Merton is clearly absent here. I intend to read any other books by Martin I can find.

Father Martin has written a book that will appeal not just to those contemplating a religious vocation, but to anyone who has sought to find a higher meaning in their lives. I found myself incredibly moved by his story -- while laughing out loud -- as he vividly described his journey from the ivy covered walls of Wharton to the starched shirt corridors of GE Capital to the slums of Jamaica. A terrific book!

Father Martin has once again shown the fascinating side of having a religious vocation. His down-to-earth telling of his steps to becoming a Jesuit is a remarkable piece of work. When I read his first book, This Our Exile, I hoped he would continue his writing and I felt rewarded when In Good Company was published. In Good Company is an honest story told by a gifted young man. Let's hope he continues to tell us of his life as a Jesuit priest.

If you're like most laypeople, you probably regard priests with a combination of awe, admiration and more than a little suspicion (just what are you running away from?). James Martin's moving vocation story ultimately reveals that his decision to leave a high-powered job at the height of his young yuppie-dom was not running away from life, but running towards his heart's undeniable desire. Funny, wry, and (in this day and age, dare one say?) inspirational, Father Martin's book puts a contemporary spin on the ageless miracle of a calling to the religious life. His gradual and (even to him) astonishing discernment of his life's true course is movingly revealed, while a supporting cast of family members, friends and co-workers provide insight and levity sometimes more suited to a snarky Greek chorus or an episode of "Seinfeld" than a book that's already being compared to Thomas Merton's. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to "give it all up" and find yourself in the process, Father Martin can tell you.