Gluttony
One
Made for Joy
We were made for joy. Joy is the response to something experienced as good and it invites us to rest or delight in that good. With the first taste of hot black coffee in a warm mug on a cold morning I experience joy, I take delight in its goodness and rest in or savor it.
We are made to have real joy and pleasure (for this discussion they mean the same thing). God is so good that he designed us to have pleasure as a result of or as a by-product of doing good things: such as a job well done, a good conversation with a friend, or sitting on the beach watching the sunset and the tide roll in.
In our fallen state, we seek pleasure but divorced from the good thing. Take for example, pizza. I love pizza. For the good of nutrition and health, I probably only need two pieces. But it tastes so good that I go on to eat three, four, or five pieces. Then I’m overstuffed, miserable and it’s certainly not good for my health.
That’s our trouble, we’re addicted to the pleasure apart from the good God intended. When we do this, we end up ruining the good we want and get bored with the pleasure we experience. We need to learn to keep the two together and in the right order: Partake of a good and delight in the pleasure. Don’t seek pleasure apart from the good.
Gluttony refers to eating, drinking and drug use for the sake of pleasure alone or to escape the reality we find too hard, too painful, too boring, or we think real joy is unattainable. Temperance helps us experience real joy.
Two
Eating too much or being too picky
It’s possible to be gluttonous by eating too much either because it’s unhealthy or because someone else is entitled to our excess of food or by eating to alleviate stress, anxiety, fear, or to relieve loneliness or boredom. But we can also be gluttonous by being too picky, too attached to a certain kind of food, too health-minded, or too controlled by food. C.S. Lewis points out that, every time a person is grumpy, impatient, uncharitable, or self-concerned because of their stomach, it’s a case of gluttony.
Fasting conquers Gluttony. Fasting uses the intellect and will to control our desires. This trains the desires in all areas to be subject to the intellect and will. Begin small. Fast from your favorite desert or drink. Or eat until you are satisfied and then stop. I have also noticed how I eat when I am stressed or right after a stressful situation as a kind of escape or reward or when I am bored. These are great moments to fast and gain control of our body by fasting.
This is about overcoming the domination of pleasure by our desire to love Jesus. It is not primarily about bodily health. So eat and drink in a healthy way for you. But do something more for the love of Jesus and to help him save souls. I think we need a fast from our screens for a time each day…
Three
Drunkenness
Alcohol is not evil. The Bible, in Sirach 31:27 says, “Wine is life for man if drunk in moderation. What is life worth without wine? It was created to make men happy. Drunk at the right time and the right amount, wine makes for a glad heart and a cheerful mind.” But to get drunk is a grave sin. (see CCC 2290-2291)
There are three ways we can use alcohol: for appreciation, for recreation, and for therapeutic reasons.
The first is good, the other two are bad. If you drink wine, or beer, or liquor, drink it because it’s good, because you like the taste, or it goes with this or that food really well. If you drink to cause a change in your mood by altering your brain, to get buzzed, or to relax, that is bad. If you drink to feel good or to stop feeling bad or stressed or to relax, that is bad.
Why? Because we are supposed to use our soul, our intellect, and will to control behavior. We are not to be dependent on alcohol to control our behavior. Using alcohol to manage feelings or behavior forms a dependency and does not get to the root of the problem, nor help you solve it.
Don’t drink in such a way that significantly compromises your intellect, your will, or your emotional stability! Don’t drink to get drunk. Don’t even drink to get buzzed. Don’t drink to manage or alter your feelings. Don’t drink to escape from life. Drink alcohol because the drink is good, or it accentuates the flavor of this meal. But don’t drink to alter your feelings or behavior.
Four
Weed
The Catechism (2291) teaches, “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.”
Marijuana might be legal but that does not make it morally good. Unlike alcohol, it’s pretty difficult to say you use marijuana because it tastes good. So, there is no real appreciative good. Recreational use of marijuana is bad because if you have to use a drug to cause joy by altering the brain, that is bad. If you have to use marijuana to stop feeling bad, or stressed and to start feeling good, that too is bad.
Add to that the fact that it forms a dependency plus it won’t solve your problems, then what are left with. Marijana is just an escape. And it is a grave sin. Again, grave sins done knowingly and willingly are mortal sins.
If we are overwhelmed or bored or can’t relax or find joy in life, we can learn to control these things by changing our thinking and our action which alters our feeling in a good way.
Five
Cultivating delight in food, drink, and friends
Remember, the Church doesn’t warn us against gluttony because food or drink are bad but because they’re supposed to be part of a good life. A life that’s healthy, and filled with friends and a love of the highest things. Make your eating and drinking part of that life. Eat more slowly. Drink more gratefully. Let our need for nourishment and hydration become, every time, an opportunity for gratitude and appreciation.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Practice accepting the food that is given to you this week, even if it’s not to your liking.
Think about the situations in which you drink alcohol. Is it for the right reasons? How can you purify your intentions?
Gluttony isn’t just about food, consider what pleasures you’re overconsuming right now, especially screen time and find ways to cut back.