So people always ask me, "Father Mike what does your what does your ring say?" It's not um it's not uh Just say something You're embarassing me this is I'm in recor– I'm recording this so just say something Just kidding It reads: um It reads, "You are a priest forever" in Hebrew and it comes from the book of Psalms and the Letter to the Hebrews quotes it of the Psalms "You are a priest forever." I actually had it checked out, like that making sure like "Did you order that online?" I was in Israel and actually there was a man who didn't know what it was supposed to say, an Israeli man, and he said, "What does your ring say?" I showed it to him and he said, "Whoah! Oh! Wow! I like that. And he said, 'You are an everlasting priest.'" And I like that translation even more than "you're a priest forever" "You're an everlasting priest" I was really taken since I am a priest I wanted that I thought maybe I should get a tattoo and then I thought, well, I want to be a priest forever I'm going to be a priest forever. Thanks be to the Lord, but uh, on a ring is probably better, probably better on a ring. Speaking of tattoos, let's. Let's talk about tattoos shall we? Hi! My name is Father Mike Schmitz This is Ascension Presents. We're going to talk about tattoos, because people ask me all the time, "Father Mike, is it OK to get tattoos? is there anything sinful or evil about getting tattoos?" Well, great question, number one. In the book of Leviticus, chapter 19 it says, "Don't get tattoos. Don't mark your body, don't cut up your body." That's good and that's in the Bible, and what we have to do whenever we read the Bible is understand the context. What the Bible is talking about when it prohibits tattoos is it's talking about a certain kind of marking on one's body that gives oneself an identity typically in terms of tribal identity, or in terms of dedicating one's body like for the dead or some kind of other like ritual sense, in that sense. The Jews were instructed in the book of Leviticus not to do that. You don't have a tribal identity. Your identity is you're a part of the people of God. You're not marking your bodies for the dead because your identity is found in God who is the true and living God. So with that being said the prohibition in Leviticus 19 might say temporal, or cultural, or temporary, in the sense that if your tattoos mean that you're consecrating yourself to something other than God then yeah, don't do that. If your tattoos mean that you're consecrating yourself for the dead or to the dead then yes don't do that; but if they don't mean that then there may not be I would say there isn't a prohibition specifically or explicitly against any and all kind of tattoos. Now that being said there are some tattoos even if it's not intrinsically evil ... there are some tattoos that we would not as Christians be able to get based on a couple of things. Number one: um if they are of an evil thing right? So ... to get an evil image um, so something that is satanic, something that would be um uhhh what's the word? lewd would be lewd would be the right word, so crude, lewd or crude, don't do that. Secondly, the where you get it is kind of important. Sometimes the "where" you get a tattoo is directly related to um some kind of like I'm trying to say something about uh a use or misuse of my sexuality; so that kind of tattoo would also probably be um don't do that kind of thing. So the kind of tattoo, the where you get the kind of tattoo, the third thing would be the amount, the number of tattoos. Now what I mean by that is this ... there are some people who just they have tattoos all over the place simply because they like tattoos, and on a certain element you'd say "OK, that's whatever." Another element if you'd care about the person you might ask the question, "Hey, what's going on with all the tattoos?" Because a person could find themselves seeking tattoos out of a sense of maybe self loathing. No, of course I'm not saying that everyone who has a sleeve has that kind of thing, but it is a good question to ask. What am I saying when I mark up my body? That's the big question as Catholics we'll ask. What am I saying if I feel compelled to mark up my body? Now, a lot of times people will say, "Well I'm not saying anything. I just ... I'm trying to be unique, and I'm trying to be distinctive," or it is, "I like this image or I like this saying. The thing I have tattooed on me is a cross, or the thing I have tattooed on me is a verse from Scripture." Like that's ... again, like, I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just saying it is a great question to ask is, "What am I seeking?" or "What am I trying to say with these tattoos?" Just like you'd say ... I would say the same thing when it comes to like, "Hey, you're wearing that t-shirt. Like what are you saying by wearing that t-shirt?" Nothing necessarily wrong with the certain kind of dress or certain kind of haircut. It's just the question is, what are you saying? What are you revealing about yourself? Particularly, what are you revealing as your deepest identity? Should I get a tattoo? That's the question. "Should I get a tattoo?" I remember someone asking. They wrote an article about this and they said, "You know, with our changing culture and our changing tastes there are some important questions to ask before you get a tattoo, because that's kind of a permanent thing. And he asked the question, he said, "OK, so you're talking to a random 23-year-old or 20-year-old who wants to go out and get a tattoo," and said, "OK, rewind your life by 10 years and ask yourself the question, 10 years ago what would be the one tattoo that you would get 10 years ago? Now, 10 years later would you still want that tattoo on your body permanently?" Now, if someone says "Yeah, absolutely, I would!" OK, great, wonderful no problem, but it's a good question to ask. Now, the way I like to do it is this: um, if you have an image you want, like I want this image on a tattoo ... I think it would be super cool. Great, no problem. Here is what you should do, just ... you don't have to, just part of my advice: get that exact image the actual size get it silk screened on a t-shirt or actually on 7 t-shirts and wear that as an undershirt every single day, and if after a year of wearing that same image every single day you want that tattooed on your body then that is a good sign that that's gonna be an image that lasts if after a year you're like, " Oh man, I am bored of this image," then, now you know, you just dodged a bullet and you don't have that permanently imprinted on your body. Now, I have always wanted to get tattoos. I, as of yet, have zero and why? Because I know that I'm fickle. I want a cross, but what kind of cross? I don't know. I want a Scripture verse. What kind of Scripture verse? I want something that identifies me as as a soldier of Jesus. You know what will identify me as a solider, as a son of God, as a Christian ? Not a tattoo, but the way I live. The t-shirt we put on, the cross we put on around our neck, or even the tattoo we imprint on our skin, it might just be ... it might just be too easy of an identifier ... even the ring we slip on our finger might be too easy of an identifier. The harder thing that identifies me as a son of God or as a priest of God or as a follower of Jesus is the way I live. That's hard to do and it takes a daily decision. Tattoos are a one time decision. I want to live my life like a Christian every single day. I want to live my life as a priest every single day. That's why when I have this on my ring I take it off at night and I put it on in the morning saying, "Today, once again, I want to live as a priest today and forever." My guess is whatever you would get tattooed on your body, that's more a thing that you want to live than you just want to wear; but from all here at Ascension Presents My name is Father Mike Schmitz ... God bless