Jesus Christ and Saks Fifth Avenue

Yesterday I found myself walking past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of the most visited Roman Catholic churches in the country. Through the bustling crowds of Catholic tourists, I saw a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign that described him as a Catholic man asking for assistance in a difficult time in his life. Objectively, he was being paid more attention than the other homeless people on the street, none of which had a sign that referenced religion at all. I took note not of the cathedral itself, or of the homeless man sitting outside of the front steps, but of the statues that were situated in the front wall of the building, depicting Jesus and Mary gesturing down over the sidewalk.The religious object that I was captivated by in this scene is not the man’s sign, or the man himself, but rather how the shadow of the cathedral creates a suddenly pious place on the sidewalk for the average passerby to stumble upon that might have otherwise been ignored.

These statues and their impact on the space that they occupied were something that I considered for a surprising amount of time after actually seeing them. I could not help but be reminded of the William James reading in which he considered the different criteria for judgement. Specifically, he discussed the hypocrisy in Catholicism, in that people refrain from killing because it is a sin, instead of not killing simply because it is a morally wrong thing to do. With this in mind, I considered if the Catholic tourists who were passing the homeless man on the street were more likely to help him because they were under the watchful eyes of Jesus Christ and Mary. Were people more likely to help someone in need because they were in a place of worship? It is impossible to accurately understand the motivations behind someone’s actions, specifically the actions of a stranger, but I found myself repeatedly wondering if these Catholic people going to pay their respects in St. Patrick’s Cathedral were more likely to help this Catholic homeless man because of the obligation to be compassionate towards others that comes along with religion.

In addition, I was incredibly intrigued by the juxtaposition of piety and consumerism by the location of these statues. As I looked up from the street of Fifth Avenue, I saw Jesus Christ and Mary welcoming me into this enormous house of worship. However, on my right stood one of the largest Victoria’s Secret stores in the country, and on my left stood the huge Saks Fifth Avenue store, both completely full of people needlessly spending money. In a way, I found humor in the idea of this important religious center existing in the middle of this capitalist mayhem of Fifth Avenue.

The objects that I chose to evaluate, the statues of Jesus Christ and Mary that are fixed into the facade of the cathedral, are very interesting parts of New York religious culture. I have enjoyed the time I spent pondering the impact of these religious statues and how they transform a typically secular space, the New York City sidewalk.