And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Matthew 8:20
There is a variation on this verse in a couple of gospels, a reminder that the Christ we follow probably had more in common with the homeless than those of us who are comfortably middle class. A unique sculpture brings this into the spotlight. Read this from the Toronto Star: Jesus has been depicted in art as triumphant, gentle or suffering. Now, in a controversial new sculpture in downtown Toronto, he is shown as homeless — an outcast sleeping on a bench.
It takes a moment to see that the slight figure shrouded by a blanket, hauntingly similar to the real homeless who lie on grates and in doorways, is Jesus. It’s the gaping wounds in the feet that reveal the subject, whose face is draped and barely visible, as Jesus the Homeless. Despite message of the sculpture — Jesus identifying with the poorest among us — it was rejected by two prominent Catholic churches, St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
“Homeless Jesus had no home,” says the artist, Timothy Schmalz who specializes in religious sculpture. “How ironic.” Rectors of both cathedrals were enthusiastic about the bronze piece and showed Schmalz possible locations, but higher-ups in the New York and Toronto archdiocese turned it down, he says.
“It was very upsetting because the rectors liked it, but when it got to the administration, people thought it might be too controversial or vague,” he says. He was told “it was not an appropriate image.”
The Toronto archdiocese tried to help him find an alternative location, including St. Augustine’s Seminary in Scarborough. But Schmalz, who describes his work as a visual prayer, wanted to reach a wider, secular audience. “I wanted not only the converted to see it, but also the marginalized. I almost gave up trying to find a place.” Now the sculpture stands near Wellesley St. W., outside Regis College at the University of Toronto. It’s a Jesuit school of theology, where priests and lay people are trained, with an emphasis on social justice.
What is your reaction to this story? Can you relate to a homeless Jesus?
What is your reaction to this story? Can you relate to a homeless Jesus?
3 comments:
I relate, but it took me a while to see what the artist was going for. I also don't see this as a profane image, where some might, I suppose.
I imagine that the sculpture was turned away largely because it's hard to discern anything "hopeful" in it. The images I've been presented of Jesus since I was a kid are all warm, ascendant and - even in those times where he was depicted as suffering - there is something that indicates he will overcome.
This sculpture, though striking, doesn't seem to offer up any hope for a change in fortune. Perhaps that's the point? That we focus on the suffering, and how so many people still do, in this way?
At any rate, it's got people talking!
It is a call for those of us who sit in the comfortable pews on Sundays to remember the words of Christ "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, ye have done it to me"
This is a wonderful image of Jesus....perhaps it is a stretch but at times faithful folk can feel homeless in today's secular world. Remembering Jesus' struggle and humility offers strength and vision for the journey. I will search out this sculpture. Glad it found a home closeby...
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