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| (1890 Photo by Jacob Riis) |
Toronto, Canada can't be an easy place to live without a roof over one's head. Unfortunately, about 5,000 people can currently attest to that. One cold night just before Christmas, Toronto sculptor Timothy Schmalz came upon someone lying on the sidewalk.
When he spotted this suffering soul, Schmalz instinctively thought: …that is Jesus
Christ. I just saw Jesus.
That epiphany was the inspiration for his statue, "Homeless Jesus." Meredith
Bennett-Smith of The Huffington Post tells us that
this life-size bronze creation "is haunting and uncomfortable, depicting a darkly shrouded figure lying huddled on a long park bench." The
identity of this figure only becomes apparent upon close examination. It is then that the stigmata wounds on the exposed feet become evident.
Although the Gospel of Matthew clearly prioritizes "the least of these," modern-day churches are not
necessarily in sync with this approach. One sign of this might be that "Homeless Jesus" was not ultimately welcomed at "two high-profile cathedrals, St. Michaels Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, despite initial enthusiasm by rectors."
Nevertheless, the statue has now found a home "near the entrance to Regis College at the University of
Toronto." Regis,
"a Jesuit school of theology," is a proponent of Ignatian social justice.
This placement has been met very favorably – so favorably that people are leaving flowers at the statue's feet.
Hopefully, these very same people are leaving gifts for the statue's living counterparts.
Resources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/jesus-the-homeless-sculpture-rejected-catholic-churches_n_3085584.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
Copyright April 17, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
The sculpture "Homeless Jesus" is a rare insight into what Jesus Christ really wants from us: to serve the homeless and the hungry.
ReplyDeleteSt. Mathew 25: 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
It is appropriate that this great work has found a place in the Jesuit College, maybe Jesus really wanted it there!
I think this sculpture embodies all that Christ is, the encounters we have with the homeless, the marginalized and neglected. This is a powerful voice of reproach and a reminder to what true mission is.
Congratulations to the sculptor.