I've been a Roman Catholic all my life. I was baptized when I was 4 months old and I was attending mass every Sunday ever since I can remember. But somehow it never made me happy. For me, it was just an obligation I needed to complete to make my family happy.
At A Glance Author Mangaartist Contact [email protected] IAM Mangaartist When N/A Location Budapest, Hungary As I entered the rebellious period of my life, I started to fight against going to church. After a time, I completely stopped attending and tried to find faith on my own. And I miserably failed. Thankfully, not long ago, I found my way back to my religion. Now I managed to see behind all the formalities. Now I cherish every moment I spend on mass and I listen carefully to the sermon. I finally found what I was looking for all my life.
Needless to say, this big and sudden change opened many questions for me. I had many inner battles to fight. One of these was if my newfound love for my faith is compatible with my involvement in body modifications. Will my religion allow me to look like what I find aesthetically pleasing?
After a long inner struggle, I looked for advice online. I read debates in different forums and tried to look for a universal rule, something to go by. What I found was the following:
Although the Old Testament speaks out against tattoos and scars ("Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:28), "Jesus fulfilled the Old Law and so we are not obliged to keeps all of its precepts. " /Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P./ You can read about this here: Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; Ephesians 2:15
"Other than a general injunction that there is an obligation to be mindful of bodily health and to avoid spending on luxuries money that one cannot afford, the Church does not take a position on body enhancements such as tattoos. So long as you take the proper precautions to safeguard your health and so long as the money it would cost is not needed for personal obligations, you are free to get a tattoo." /Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P./
And a reply to a question asking if getting a rosary tattoo is ok:
"As your intention is devotional in nature and is not meant to be disrespectful of the rosary, there would be nothing wrong with getting the tattoo you are considering."
So, summing it all up, it is not sinful or wrong to get a body modification as long as the following conditions are met:
-your health is not put at risk
-the imagery is not inappropriate
-the money you spend on it is not needed for something more important
Also, I'm carefully trying to avoid being vain, as vanity is one of the seven sins and it's easily brought about by body modifications. Just think about all the jewelry for stretched lobes, and you'll see what I mean.
It is also important to realize that when you receive the final judgment, God will not look at your appearance, but at your soul. As long as your soul is free of sins, it doesn't matter how your body looks like, as you leave that on Earth.
But then again, when I was on my way to get my nostrils pierced, a thought occurred to me: "Shouldn't I look more like a Catholic?"
When I went to attend mass with purple hair and double nostril piercings, or my septum piercing out, I could see people staring at me, and the priest look a bit hesitating for a short second when I went to receive communion. This is something I experience on the street, but something I wouldn't want to expect in church.
It is strange to a certain degree that some people react this way, even though I don't break any rules with the way I look. I don't disturb people during mass, I sit quietly, stand up when it's required and kneel down when it's required. I'm not doing anything wrong, except I don't look like it's traditionally expected from a young girl who goes to mass. Why is this closed-mindedness so hard to change?
This time I found the answer on my own. Who can tell you how Catholics should dress, cut their hair or wear jewelry? There is a stereotypical image in society that shows faithful Catholics as conservative, but that's not a rule.
I decided that it's up to me to break down the walls society tries to build around me, by looking like I want to, and maybe this way make the church look in better light in front of other teenagers too.
I want to make people - both inside and outside the church - realize that the 'traditional' way in not the only way to do things right.
Resources: the Catholic Answers Forum
/http://forums.catholic.com/