Would someone be as good as to explain gluttony to me in very simple terms? When is this a sin: when one is not hungry but still eats or when one is full and eats?
For example today I had a meal followed by desert. I was not hungry when I ate the desert and I wasn’t exactly stuffed, is that wrong?
And what about when there are only a few items of food left on your plate when you become full? Surely it’s a waste not to eat them?
Or are the above examples I gave only venial, or not even that? Could gluttony be a worship of food where one plans their whole day around their meals and allows eating to get in the way of their relationship with God?
Many thanks.
I’ve been studying this for several years now as I am very interested in knowing the fine line on this. However, I’ve researched this a lot and I cannot find any authority that will draw concrete lines for gluttony. From what I gather, its a matter of personal discernment that can only be understood through much prayer. For me, I understand gluttony as when a person becomes overtaken with the thought and consumption of food and drink (and does nothing about it to resist the temptation!). In your following three cases here are my thoughts. These are my thoughts and not based on an official authority, of course.
Eating dessert when not hungry is not necessarily a sin. I would say it depends on your circumstances and the portion consumed. Ask yourself these questions.
Are you going to have another meal soon or will it be some time? If it won’t be for awhile, having the dessert may be good idea to hold yourself over.
Are you gaining a tremendous amout of weight (primarily due to the consumption of the food and not due to some other medical condition like hypothyroidism) and/or are you seriously harming your health by eating desserts often? For example, a diabetic person should probably avoid sweets and other foods that convert easily into sugar.
Is eating dessert relatively convenient and not to burdensome to put together? For example, if one spends several hours in preparation of the dessert with no other purpose than to eat it all by themselves (and they do that sort of thing often), this may be a problem. However, if you are doing the same amount of work to share with others, it may be okay.
If your eating a dessert with a group of friends, are you more interested in the dessert or the conversation? If you are hyper-focused on the dessert, this may be a sin. Also, are you trying to eat it quickly so that you can hurry to eat more food before the meal is over?
Another question is are you eating the dessert to make your host or hostess feel good about what they prepared? I would say that in this case it may be a good thing to eat the dessert even if you are already somewhat satisfied.
When eating alone, do you avoid other duties that you are obligated to do in order to eat the food?
Is the dessert expensive and you ought to be spending your money on something else?
Will the dessert go bad if you let it waste? Can you give it away before it spoils?
With regard to planning one’s meals, this isn’t necessarily bad. As a mother, I have to think about what I must make for my family. I think even St. Ignatius of Loyola planned his meals. He would say something like “when tempted to eat more, one should eat slightly less” to moderate the appetite (I am paraphrasing here).
The sin of gluttony tends to be a matter of venial sin (for food - with alcohol, it can be grave when one was lost the complete loss of reason or senses). Gluttony could be grave in cases where one lives solely for the love of food (e.g., the use of a vomitorium so that one can consume more food).
In a personal example, I used to be fixated on eating cookies and I would spend tremendous hours thinking about them and I would often forgoe other healthier foods in order to “save up my calories” for the sweet goodies. For me, this was gluttony. One day I decided to switch to eating plain popcorn with a little butter and salt in lieu of the cookies. Since then I have no longer had a problem with my fixation on the cookies (and other sweet things for that matter). I also decided to stop “thinking” about food so much. Basically, I just choose to think about other things and busy myself with other stuff. And lastly, all this was achieved through much prayer (and the sacrament of reconciliation). I do believe the Lord helped me with this. I now live in peace.
God bless you. I’ll pray for you.
houston1
