Homeless Jesus Sculpture

From the Oklahoman – Carla Hinton

The Canadian sculptor, Timothy Schmalz, says that not everyone is enamored of his sculpture because of what it represents. He recently had his piece, “Homeless Jesus" rejected by the city of London. Their ironic reasoning – too many homeless already. But with its installation in Oklahoma City last month, Schmaltz explains that it's going to so many different places around the world with its recent installation at the Vatican.

According to Schmaltz, “To me I was quite moved by hearing other people were moved by it. I was inspired to create it in one of the major cities in Canada, Toronto. I saw a homeless person and I said 'I just saw Jesus.' It was a haunting figure, very close to how I sculpted the Homeless Jesus. Actually, almost identical but for the exposed feet with the wounds. My hope was that other people could see what I saw on that day and that is that when we see the least of our brothers and sisters we should see something spiritual. We should see the Son of Man, Jesus. I created it with the hope that other people would find it as an instrument for reflection and to put a message out on city streets to remind us. I do think we always need to be reminded that all human life is sacred."

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