At a parish Mass before blessing a dramatic new statue outside Holy Trinity’s chapel in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood that depicts Jesus as a poor, hungry man, Cardinal Wilton Gregory called it “a bronze homily planted in the midst of this fine community as a reminder for everyone to be more attentive and generous in searching for and caring for the Christ.”

As he later blessed the statue with incense and by sprinkling holy water on it, the cardinal prayed that people will see Jesus in the face of the poor, and he said, “When we encounter the poor, we encounter Christ himself.”

The sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz is titled “When I Was Hungry and Thirsty” and depicts a cloaked figure huddled on the ground next to a cup and a plate. But a closer look reveals that the man’s outstretched palm has a nail wound, and beneath his hood is the face of Christ.

The statue is located amid a colorful flower bed planted by volunteers from Holy Trinity’s Garden Committee outside the chapel at 3513 N Street, N.W. and is inspired by Matthew 25, where Jesus describes those who will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me… whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” 

That Gospel passage was read at the weekday Mass at Holy Trinity Church that preceded the statue blessing. The congregation included parishioners and seventh graders from Holy Trinity School, with the students reading prayers and bringing up offertory gifts.

Welcoming the cardinal to the parish at the beginning of the Mass and noting that the statue would be blessed afterward, Jesuit Father Kevin Gillespie, the pastor, said, “This beautiful statue helps inspire us to feed the poor and work for justice.”

In his homily, Cardinal Gregory reflected on the implications of Jesus’s words in Matthew 25 for people today.

“In a neighborhood so richly blessed as is Georgetown, it might be  easy to walk past a poor person or simply to throw a buck or two their way and then carry on with life’s other more pressing concerns,” he said, adding that the statue he would bless is intended to help people “reflect more intensely on the presence and the needs of those whom Christ calls His own sisters and brothers.”

Washington’s archbishop added, “This statue is a physical reminder and an invitation to be more conscious of the poor in our midst” whom Jesus identified with.

“This statue will soon become commonplace here at this parish, but I hope and pray that its significance and message will be a lingering Gospel passage for all those who see it,” Cardinal Gregory said.

The prayer intentions read by Holy Trinity seventh grader Lucia Szymkowicz asked that the Church remain faithful in its care of those in need, that leaders act on behalf of the poor, marginalized and disenfranchised, and that people contribute to a caring culture by working to end poverty and hunger.

Near the end of Mass, Father Gillespie offered special thanks to members of the parish’s Garden Committee for caring for the gardens throughout the parish grounds and for planting the array of brightly colored flowers surrounding the new statue.

After the Mass, Cardinal Gregory and the clergy who assisted at the Mass and the parishioners and students who attended it walked to the statue outside the chapel, passing a group of Holy Trinity third graders on a nearby playground, who then watched attentively as the group gathered under a small canopy and the cardinal blessed the statue.

Afterward, Kathleen Byrnes, the former head of the parish’s Garden Committee who helped design the flower bed around the statue, noted that it included red cardinal flowers, a camellia bush, yellow sunflowers, orange marigolds, sea oats grass that looks like wheat, and red leafed coral bells. She expressed hope that the flowers’ bright colors will draw attention to the statue, and to the issue of serving those in need.

“I hope people will think about what it means, and stop and pause instead of just walking by,” she said.

Holy Trinity Parish, founded in 1787 and staffed by the Society of Jesus that also sponsors nearby Georgetown University, is known for its social outreach. Holy Trinity has a longstanding program where parishioners offer assistance and friendship to migrant and refugee individuals and families.

In an interview, Father Gillespie noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Holy Trinity has hosted a Sunday supper for about 40-50 homeless people in front of the parish school, with about a dozen volunteers including high school students serving them food. Holy Trinity has sister parishes in El Salvador and Haiti. The priest said the parish has about 20 social justice and advocacy programs.

Holy Trinity’s pastor said he hoped the new statue “inspires our present and future parishioners and students to act for charity and justice.”

On his website, the artist Timothy Schmalz described that sculpture depicting Christ in the guise of a poor man as “a visual representation of charity. It tells us that we need to see Christ in the poor and the hungry and that we should see our acts of kindness to them as kindness to Him.”

The artist has several other sculptures on display in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

On Ash Wednesday in 2015, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, then the archbishop of Washington and now retired, blessed Schmalz’s bronze statue of Jesus depicted as a homeless man asleep on a park bench outside the headquarters of Catholic Charities at 924 G Street, N.W., near where Pope Francis met with poor people served by that agency during his papal visit to the nation’s capital later that year.

In November 2019 on the World Day of the Poor, Schmalz’s sculpture depicting Jesus and illustrating Matthew 25:36, “When I was naked, you clothed me,” was installed outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle at 1725 Rhode Island Ave., N.W. The sculpture shows a homeless man wrapped in a blanket, his nail-pierced hand outstretched, seeking alms.

In September 2020, Schmalz’s 3.5-ton bronze sculpture “Angels Unawares” was unveiled on a plaza at The Catholic University of America and depicts 140 refugees from different lands and eras, including Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus on their flight into Egypt. The title comes from Hebrews 13:2: “Be kind to the stranger; you don’t know if they are angels unawares.”

The refugees stand together on a large boat on the massive sculpture that eventually will be placed in a reflecting pool. The sculpture went on stops throughout the United States and is scheduled to return to the Catholic University campus, and to be installed there in the spring of 2022.

On his website, Schmalz wrote, “I am devoted to creating artwork that glorifies Christ… I describe my sculptures as being visual prayers.”