Confusion about gluttony

[tdakers]

I’m a little confused about the sin of gluttony and would like any clarification if possible. So I know that gluttony is excessive eating, also can be my food has to be just perfect and as couple other things. My question is about excessive eating.

When you are eating are you literally just eating to be satisfied and if you are even kinda full you stop? Is it ok I finished 90% of my meal and I don’t HAVE to finish this bit but I would like to finish this meal despite being full? I know that excessive eating is wrong… and not something you can really quantify but is there any guidance on what “excessive” looks like without saying something like eating 30 bags of chips in a single sitting is too much?

 

[meltzerboy2]

Two thoughts come to mind. One is that gluttony may be defined according to the context of depriving others who are needy from food, such that you eat so much that others don’t have enough to sustain themselves. The other thought is that gluttony may mean that you are so greedy for food that you sacrifice all else, including devotion to G-d and to your fellow man, for the sensual pleasure of eating. In the latter case, it is not necessarily the amount you eat that is sinful but the fact that eating is your primary purpose in living.

 

[Vico]

…

I know that excessive eating is wrong… and not something you can really quantify but is there any guidance on what “excessive” looks like without saying something like eating 30 bags of chips in a single sitting is too much? …

Baltimore Catechism

Q. 304. What is gluttony?
A. Gluttony is an excessive desire for food or drink.
Q. 305. What kind of a sin is drunkenness?
A. Drunkenness is a sin of gluttony by which a person deprives himself of the use of his reason by the excessive taking of intoxicating drink.
Q. 317. What virtues are opposed to the seven capital sins?
A. Humility is opposed to pride; generosity to covetousness; chastity to lust; meekness to anger; temperance to gluttony; brotherly love to envy, and diligence to sloth.

Catholic Encylopedia, on gluttony:

This deordination, according to the teaching of the Angelic Doctor [St. Thomas Aquinas], may happen in five ways which are set forth in the scholastic verse:* “Prae-propere, laute, nimis, ardenter, studiose”,* or, according to the apt rendering of Father Joseph Rickaby: too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, too daintily. Clearly one who uses food or drink in such a way as to injure his health or impair the mental equipment needed for the discharge of his duties, is guilty of the sin of gluttony. It is incontrovertible that to eat or drink for the mere pleasure of the experience, and for that exclusively, is likewise to commit the sin of gluttony.

Delany, J. (1909). Gluttony. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06590a.htm

 

[tdakers]

So I guess by that logic since yes was enjoying the food but also wanted to finish the meal I should be good?

 

[Vico]

So I guess by that logic since yes was enjoying the food but also wanted to finish the meal I should be good?

Sounds reasonable. I have left food on the plate before, or saved portions for later. I try to divide my food up into several meals a day, however one person I spoke with ate only one large meal a day (and avoided gaining too much weight).

If one overeats just once, it will be remembered from how uncomfortable it is, and it may cause sickness too. The Romans used a vomitorium. Note: tdakers said this idea about the vomitorium is incorrect, see next posts.

 

[tdakers]

I just read through the article you provide and I noticed that it said that most gluttony is just a venial sin. So if you have a candy bar because you want a candy bar would be the sin of gluttony but only a venial sin? Thoughts?

 

[tdakers]

Sorry I was referencing the article about that said that eating just to Eat is a sin (as an example) of a time you may not need to eat cause you are not necessarily hungry. This would be an example of a venial sin and not a mortal sin.

 

[MarkRome]

I believe a vomitorium was a place where there was some type of public oral discourse. People incorrectly took the name as meaning a place where they regurgitated their food after eating too much.

Being obese doesn’t necessarily mean someone is gluttonous. Don’'t know if this is true but someone said that St. Thomas Aquinas had to cut out a circle in the table so he could sit there with his rotund belly.

 

[Vico]

I believe a vomitorium was a place where there was some type of public oral discourse. People incorrectly took the name as meaning a place where they regurgitated their food after eating too much.

Being obese doesn’t necessarily mean someone is gluttonous. Don’'t know if this is true but someone said that St. Thomas Aquinas had to cut out a circle in the table so he could sit there with his rotund belly.

OK, so thank you, what I remember from school is that they had places like that called vomitorium’s, but at least Seneca describes the slaves duty to clear up vomit on the floor at feasts. There are many causes of obesity (overweight by 30%), including inherited, which increases your risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

Finishing eating a meal isn’t gluttony. I think one also has to be very aware that what some people would perhaps think of as gluttony may actually be an eating disorder. Equally, having an unhealthy preoccupation with avoiding gluttony may also be an eating disorder. If you are concerned enough about avoiding gluttony that you are worried that you shouldn’t be eating the final 10% of a meal, you could consider asking for professional advice. In general, I think it is usually obvious what constitutes a healthy diet and what constitutes an unhealthy one.

 

[Lara]

I think you should look at your weight and decide accordingly. If you’re normal or fat, stop at 90%. Also, consider putting less on the plate to begin with by using a small bowl. I don’t think you should ever eat to the point of feeling more than full.