Fr. Michael began with a story about the Shakespearean idea of the itinerant fool embodied in former Jesuit Ken Feit. Feit’s storytelling, sound poetry, and “foolish wisdom” creatively eased tensions and conveyed truth during difficult times. In fact, Sparough was able to experience Feit’s tactics firsthand back in the 1970s as Jesuits dealt with the potential closing of a certain (now thriving!) high school that is particularly close to my heart these days.
Sparough said that something had leapt in his soul that day, like John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb. “I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I had to know this man and what he was doing.” Foolish wisdom was a different experience of God’s grace than the heady, logical understanding he had known previously, and he yearned to go deeper.
Sparough then brought us back into the life of St. Ignatius himself, a man of his age who valued logic...as well as womanizing, gambling, and dueling, of course. Beyond his intellect, though, and as his life was transformed, Ignatius gained an awareness that in God, all things, all gifts, are good. Ignatius’ view of our giftedness in Christ can be found in John 10:10: “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” He had a mystical knowing that there is unity and harmony in the world.
Without feelings and imagination, art is meaningless. Likewise, Ignatian spirituality calls people to engage both feelings and imagination to come into God’s presence. How can we, for example, encounter Jesus in Scripture? Ignatius challenges us to put ourselves into the stories and write our own scripts. T.S. Eliot writes, “We had the experience, but lost the meaning.” How can we become more aware of the meaning in our daily experiences? How can we know where the Spirit is working throughout our days? We can do an Examen, a way of looking back over the past 24 hours and doing essentially what Sparough asserts is the process of art: sifting and sorting, remembering and savoring, feeding it back and saying, This is what it means to me.
For Sparough, theatre is a vision of the Body of Christ. Unlike many other modes of art, theatre is not something that can be done alone. It is about collaboration and seeking unity. Theatre can be a reflection of the Trinity, divine unity and separation of personality. Yes, God is in all things, but as you come to find God, Sparough cautioned, don’t do it alone!
Sparough also stressed the Jesuit ideal of excellent education. Our education is not just about us, he explained; it’s about the magis. He traced the history of the earliest Jesuit dramas in 1551 and their spreading throughout Rome in 1565. By 1599, Jesuit pedagogy made participation in drama compulsory for students. Plays were performed in Latin, with music and dance and an emphasis on visual and technical sophistication. Through 1773, missionaries used drama to evangelize and teach. Drama and music both provided an accessible framework to help people come to know God.
Sparough shared about his transformative experiences in Rome at the Jesuit Institute of the Arts, which was founded by Jesuit author, historian, musicologist and linguist CJ McNaspy, SJ. McNaspy had a vision to call Jesuits from around the world who are involved in the arts to collaborate during summers. He stressed the importance of making the arts more accessible to “common folk” and prized the development of the human instrument over expensive theatre. During this time, Sparough also was impacted by the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, through which he encountered Jesus as the Holy Fool.
Through the Institute, it was determined that the Jesuits have five primary goals in their work in the arts (paraphrased):
1) To illustrate AMDG (ad majorem Dei gloriam -- for the greater glory of God)
2) To teach/evangelize humanity
3) To lead young people to Christian lives
4) To lead artists to a Christian lives
5) To focus on Christ as the inspiration and goal of all art
At a meeting with the Jesuits in Rome, Pedro Arrupe, SJ proclaimed, “You [Jesuit artists] are the fortunate ones. You speak and all listen, all understand. More than the preacherʼs word, it is the musicianʼs touch that is bringing the youth to God again. More than the politician, it is the folk singer who draws the races hand in hand. Heart speaks to heart in mysterious ways, and it is the artist who holds the key to the mystery. He can touch the wellsprings of the human heart, and release energies of the soul that the rest of the world does not suspect.”
As Sparough shared about the beauty of his years working with high school drama students, I am reminded of ways in which I can and hope to incorporate my love of drama into my ministries with young people. As I think about my own experiences in the arts and in ministry, I know the stir to which he referred -- the leaping in the soul that says “I don’t know exactly what this is yet, but I know there’s something in it for me.” So in this phase of excitement, confusion, and possibility, I will engage the gifts of prayer and discernment that Ignatius left for the fool in me.
Fellow YPTW alum and TONY AWARD NOMINEE JOSH YOUNG
Stay tuned for more on Fr. Michael’s screenplay of the book The The Gift of Peace, which chronicles the life of beloved former Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, Joseph Bernadin.
© 2012 Katie Davis
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