The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J. Gregory Maguire’s spiritual journey–From a Catholic orphanage to ‘Wicked’-fame
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Mar 10, 2026 
Gregory Maguire, novelist best known for Wicked, reflects on his Catholic orphanage roots and a lifelong practice of paying attention. He explores how early religious education shaped his imagination and how art, prayer, and noticing faces intersect. He also discusses marginalization, being gay, and how those perspectives inform compassion and storytelling.
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Childhood Spent In A Catholic Orphanage
- Gregory Maguire was placed in a Catholic infant home after his mother died in childbirth and his father was ill.
- He later returned to his father and stepmother who raised him in a devoted Irish Catholic household, shaping his early formation.
First Grade Assignment Shaped His Image Of God
- In first grade a nun asked students to draw God and told them each year they'd draw a different true picture.
- That lesson stuck: Maguire saw God as something to keep looking for and to redraw as he matured.
Choose Your Own Ministry Over Institutional Expectation
- Decide the shape of your own ministry rather than surrendering creative gifts to an institution.
- Maguire accepted a priest's advice to pursue making (writing, music, art) because it was his primary vocation.
