Gospel in Art: You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming

Youth ('These had most to give'), Sculpture by Kathleen Scott, 1922, Anglesey Abbey © National Trust/ Jaron James

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 10 August 2025
Luke 12:35-40

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, 'Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

'Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service, and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

'You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.'

Reflection on the sculpture

Jesus asks us in today's reading to stand ready, be awake, be alert and attentive, sensitive to the world around us and his presence within it. Through all the noise that surrounds us, we too have to find that place, where we take time for solitude and silence. Silence is the surrounding condition most conducive to contemplation. In the emptiness of the silence is where we get most filled!

This sense of silence and solitude is beautifully conveyed in our sculpture, off a single man, standing with arms spread, looking in contemplation to the heavens. The sculpture titled Youth (These Had Most to Give), created by Kathleen Scott in 1922, is a powerful and poignant tribute to the young lives lost in the First World War. The figure is a nude male youth evokes not only sacrifice, but complete surrender to something greater than oneself. For many, including myself, this is a deeply Christian image: the youth appears as one offering his life fully to God, echoing the shape of Christ on the Cross, not in agony, but in serenity and trust. When seen from a distance, this indeed looks at first to be a crucifixion scene. The figure's openness speaks of transcendent hope.

Kathleen Scott, widow of the Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, was a remarkable artist in her own right. In 1934, she was described as "one of the greatest woman sculptors of her time." She moved with confidence in artistic circles, having trained in Paris and known Auguste Rodin personally, whose influence can be seen in the fluid vitality of her work. In 1937, the BBC recognised her significance by dedicating its first-ever television programme on sculpture - part of the World of Women series - to her life and art. Yet this particular piece, Youth, goes beyond technique or acclaim; it becomes a spiritual statement. The sculpture speaks of young lives given, not just to king and country, but in its upward gaze and cruciform stance as an offering to God Himself.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-12-35-40-2025/