Tattoos
Why Tattoos?
Their permanence and visibility serve as evidence of my resolve to follow Christ and even amid my own sin, they shall remind me of this commitment. Further, their purpose, i.e. to share my faith not only is but also what it affords, reveals the resurrection of Christ and sharing of His Mission with His Bride, the Church. Often, in our culture, we push faith to the side as though it is responsible for disunity, however, if I understand everyone’s genuine perspective and still find this faith to be the best conformed to reality, it is not the cause of disunity so much as human fallibility. If we recognize that we ourselves are prone to this, should we not first doubt ourselves rather than those who probably know more about a given subject than we do? Still, further, this is only disunity as it relates to logic, interpersonal unity is not conditional upon belief (or and least does not need to be). Insofar as my understanding of reality includes the possibility of heaven and hell as the only two possible final eternal destinations, I must believe that faith is not something that can be marginalized if we are to truly engage with reality in every sense. Therefore, ideally, this should help me place the central story of reality, namely that of the greatest love story between God and man, and the center of my interactions with others. The following explanations and resources helped me make this decision and proved it to be a sufficiently prudent one.
The pain involved in getting them: unites me to Christ’s passion and death, the purpose of which was giving life to the Church, and inviting God’s beloved into an ever-deepening relationship with Him.
The nature of having tattoos: it allows one to speak on a whole new level with those not only a part of the tattoo culture but also those brazen by sin. The above two aspects also shall speak for themselves to those who see them. They are, further, a conversation starter with anyone.
The Text
“Sitio”
The Latin word for “I thirst”. Jesus is quoted as saying this in John 19:28 just before He died. This of course marks Christ’s longing for us and reveals the poverty of/lack of love for which He longs for us and in which we not only abandoned him but had him tortured and killed by way of our sin. Because by our sin, we had made something like this necessary to save us, God the Father spared not even His Only Begotten Son to restore us to health and bestow salvation upon us. Further, in a colloquy with St. Teresa of Jesus, Monastic Reformer, Doctor of the Church, and Carmelite, Jesus said to her, “I would create the universe again just to hear you say that you love me.” In some ways the next quote builds on this.
"Domine, ad quem ibimus?”
This is an interrogative statement in Vulgate’s Latin, meant with a little sarcasm, given by the first Pope to Jesus in John 6:69 (in Latin, in English it is verse 68). It is not the whole of Peter’s meaning, but it draws us back to the Garden of Eden when our first parents turned from God. In this way, it demonstrates not only man’s fallibility, gullibility with temptation, and corruptible/corrupt nature, but also man’s post-fall shame, aversion to the light, and something of our attachment to the earthly. Form this destruction, we have but one option which may not worsen, or at best, maintain the corruption and woundedness of our nature, starving and pining for communion with Love Itself. Rather, and more to the context, we cannot say of that which God has created, "It is too much". After all this, aversion is the result of our nature not God's.
The two statements together:
The contrast between these two statements is capable of stealing one’s breath. God wants us, after all, He created us for Himself. We are made for Him and without Him/His Love, we could exist, let alone thrive. The truth of reality, contrary to what the enemy would tell us of course, is that we long for God and there is only one place or rather to One Being where that is actually, eternally, and richly provided for, and God Himself draws us there by His unbounded, merciful love. He waits for us and longs for our good to be fulfilled, not out of any poverty other than what we have afforded Him. God has no metaphysical need for us but rather, being Love Itself wills this much for our sake. More of this to be demonstrated later.
In truth, the only thing that separates our hunger for God and God's thirst for us is the moment in Eden. Our blindness and (willful and otherwise) predisposed distrust of God is what holds us back from true healing.
Click here for a poem reflecting on the necessity of the cross and crown.
The Location and Orientation:
The location of my forearms places them more often than not in the sight of those who see me. Providing me with a great opportunity to witness the truth in its goodness and beauty.
Their orientation allows them to be best seen and understood as I stand in cruciform, giving them a nearly liturgical opportunity for explanation. In witnessing to the truth, I take up my cross this symbolizes that. Further, the cruciform aspect suggests the truth that man's need for God and God's thirst for man are held in tension and still communion
The Symbols
The Holy Family is undoubtedly my adopted family. The more I see myself as Christ’s brother, the more I necessarily see Mary and Joseph as my beloved parents in Him. Insofar as they are a near-perfect image of the trinitarian love in the human expression a part of which I wish to see myself, I also better understand how it is I share in the life of the Trinity. It is Christ whom I have committed to serving, but I can only do this well in light of these parents, the New Eve, and the new Adam (lowercase since Christ is the uppercase).
Jesus
There are 5 elements to this symbol itself and another concerning why it was added.
The primary element is the Chi Rho (χρ), also known as “Chrismon”, is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Christos) in such a way that the vertical stroke of the rho intersects the center of the chi.
The rings symbolize not only the covenant God shares with His people but also His unrelenting pursuit of us and His unfailing mercy, which afforded the possibility of a covenant and us as corrupt creatures to be made capable of participating in it. They also symbolize the salvation found in the complete joining of Christ’s divinity to His humanity and thereby our humanity. In His baptism, He took on the weight of our sins and in death (its fruit) and resurrection joined all aspects of human life to the divine life. In the consummation of the cross, Christ gave the fullness of His being to His bride and thus gave His life for her.
The alpha and omega symbols directly reference Revelation 1:8 and Revelation 22:13 (unironically the first and last chapter of Revelation), in addition to the first chapter in the Gospel of John. The Church also uses this language when speaking about the Eucharist’s True Presence. It is also metaphysically true that it is from God we had our first beginnings as a race and as an individual, it is by Him that we are sustained and nurtured, and it is to Him we are constantly called back as our last end. Thereby, “it is right and just, our duty and our salvation” to indeed complete the return journey. “I worship you as my first beginning, I long for you as my last end…”
The ring around the exterior and the lines that extend from it symbolize the Eucharist wherein we are united to Christ, joined to Him in most sacred intimacy, and share briefly in His eternity. As stated above, it flows all of the grace of becoming and being truly a Christian, one divinized and sent on mission. In it, the promise of Christ is fulfilled that he remains with us. In it, the consummation of the Wedding feast of the Lamb is made complete. Through it our ends and beginnings meet, and we share in the Trinitarian life and eternity. The lines that extend from it resemble the radiance of the sacrament itself and form a cross whence is the temporal altar of the sacrifice.
Why it is included here: It shall remind me of My need for Jesus and What he has done for me in his life, suffering, death, and resurrection, even further in His Eucharistic presence. The sum of this shall remind me of the boundless nature of His love for me and those whom I encounter.
Additionally:
You will notice it is congruent to the altar cloth in the VAD Logo.
It is located on the left arm along with the quote of Jesus from the cross
Some have claimed this to look like a compass. Even though, this is not the point for the rays and the circular, it no less provides insight. Since it is from our relationship with Christ that all we do ought to come. Thus if we move we move in God (Acts 17:28).
Mary and Joseph
This represents Mary and Joseph, the greatest of all saints. On whom Christ’s mission greatly depended and through whom it was certainly completed. Their virtue cannot be paralleled and may their intercession never cease. Although my relationship with God is not channeled only through them, since God lives in me, they still not only have a special place in my heart but I pray I have one in theirs. I direct all extraneous merits of my life and suffering to them so that they might assist in the mission Christ has called me to and thereby ask for their intercession for my salvation, those I love, and those I struggle in love. In Christ, I take them as my family and example, and in loving them who are perfectly united to God most High, more perfectly than most, I give praise and glory to God, and of course, my love; since in even the least God is present and these are among the greatest in Christ.
The “M”’s font is supposed to demonstrate the beautiful, elegant, and simple maternity of my Mother Mary. This elegance speaks to the vocation of the feminine, being the heart of the family. A mother understands more than anyone what it is to care for each member of the family and direct them in ways of interpersonal interaction. Under the aegis and direction of the husband, the wife fulfills her call in her beauty and complexity, she nurtures the very soul of the family in herself.
The “J”’s (Joseph) font is meant to convey his patronage, namely, that of Carpentry since the font has 90 and 45-degree angles and squareness. This sort of structure is evocative of the masculine vocation to be the head of the house simple, focused, and made to uphold the family in practical matters. It, further, speaks to the vocation of the masculine to protect the beauty of women and children, to be a spiritual leader, and do what it takes to provide for the needs of the family.
Additionally:
Most of the time people joking assume this has something to do with Michael Jackson or Jordan, to this I say there was no swish but what a thriller.
The Order: From Right to Left
As I was praying one day in adoration, it was brought to my attention that the direction I tend to explain them in i.e., from the audience's perspective right to left, actually somewhat corresponds to the Parts of the Catechism and also, therefore, the pedagogical process God brings us through in our conversion:
The Profession of Faith - The logical/truths of faith - the following of the true, good, and beautiful that leads to the fullness of Christ's identity in which lies all history and the end of all time, Man's sin and salvation, the Old and the New Testament, creation and judgment, suffering and grace, God's love and our response, and mercy and healing. - Encounter with Goodness, Beauty, and Truth which draws us in and sends us out
The Celebration of the Christian Mystery - The sacramental encounter with Christ wherein we receive the Grace we need to be transformed into the Divine the need of which is man's perpetual earthly state, for which God desires namely to share in His life. - Purification/Encounter with God which calls us out of the nothingness and destruction of sin and into His marvelous light
Life in Christ - Man's Response to God/recognizing His own need for God in aspiring to live as Christ the Divine Physician beckons us to. - Illumination/Response to God's grace
Christian Prayer - Although this is symbolized by Mary and Joseph's Initials, we know that they are our examples of living spiritually conformed to Christ. - Unification/Becoming a sacrament for others
The Blessing
They were, or rather their mission, was blessed by a priest.
Writings Concerning Tatoos and their Legitimacy
Meditation
O Jesus who art the savior of man, you are eternal and yet on account of man’s need saw fit to enter time and material existence, to become what you endeavored to save. From the beginning, you inspired man to be vigilant and to record all you have done for us, who so hastily forget. You never ceased drawing man to Yourself, You bestowed upon our first parents your gifts, and though man turned from You in distrust of Your Love, You did not abandon him to the domain of death. Rather, you humbled yourself and took up our nature to not only become like us in all things but sin but also to save us by entering with us into a natural and supernatural baptism. Being found in the likeness of human kin, you descended from Noah, whom you chose to make man anew by delivering him through water and spirit, Abraham, our father in faith whose descendants formed the tribes of Israel, though they ended up captive to human power and custom you delivered them through the waters and into the desert where you instructed them in your ways by the proxy of Moses, bestowing upon them a promised land, a new existence again. You turned them into a nation and ruled over them by David a simple shepherd of the field, in the fullness of time you came and completed what you had been preparing man for. Joining yourself to our every suffering, you received with love and self-sacrifice every aspect of our dysfunction, our sin, and took up what the law prescribed for us. You gave us your body, and in establishing your Church, you make that moment eternal and bring it to us in every sacrament. As you did so, you expressed your poverty and man’s poverty when you spoke the words “I thirst” not only heartening to our time in the desert but the spiritual poverty man has about love. Knowing you to be our only savior and that “salvation comes from no other name”, Peter, the first Pope, answered your question, so many have left “Do you also wish to go away?”, wisely through your grace with, “Lord to whom shall we go?” Completing Your sacrifice, you made Eden accessible once again through You and in You. In our everyday lives, we can experience the eternity You meant for us from the beginning. In experiencing the fullness of your gifts and in giving ourselves totally to you, we complete nature's harmony as you first showed your human family Mary and Joesph. In their image and likeness, make us who are children to the through You who are our Brother in all things but sin. We see now how You wrote and wrought the greatest possible love story and intend to bring us to the fullness of life, Please remove from us any obstacle to receiving your salvation even now and protect us from abandoning it as our parents did. Draw us into your eternity by your grace and gifts given to your Church in the sacrament that extends the salvific moment of the Paschal mystery to us and its merit into our lives and needs. May we become sacramentals ourselves of your love and grace.
