I’ve read what St. John of the Cross says about spiritual gluttony. I wonder though, how else do we know if we’re guilty of spiritual gluttony? How do we know whether we’re truly seeking God and to do His will, and not just merely the “feel good” aspect of spirituality? I naturally feel deep joy when praying and reading about the Faith. I also feel happy when just thinking about God. I love listening to Catholic music as it stirs my soul and reminds me of my destiny of being with God. Is it a sin to feel this joy, or to enjoy the natural consolations that come with worship? How do we know when it’s excessive? And as someone who really wants to do everything for the love of God, I seek to offer every single thing I do to Him, and I feel great joy at the thought of doing so. Is it spiritual gluttony when our lives are so saturated with God and the Faith? I thought that’s what sainthood is being about - giving oneself totally to God and offering our waking moments to Him - or am I missing something here? Do we actually have to hold back ourselves if we are to avoid spiritual gluttony? The thought of holding back from God seems frightful to me. I just want to grow in holiness, and now this thought of spiritual gluttony looks like a natural pitfall for anyone who wants to be holy (and can be an added burden for scrupulous people like myself!). I’m somewhat confused. I guess what I’m really asking is - what differentiates the saint from the spiritual glutton?
It simply means to not seek God for the spiritual consolations or other good feelings you get out of it, but to seek God for His own sake.
The spiritual gluttonous are those who constantly seek to feel pleasure with their devotions, and will usually despair or lose interest when God withdraws those feelings from them.
So no, you do not have to stop giving yourself totally to God, because one of the points this good saint is trying to get across is, in order to please God and live for Him alone, we must have Him first in our thoughts, which is not an easy task, as we are naturally inclined towards selfishness, and the true test of whether or not we’re seeking God for Himself or the consolations He gives us, is when He takes them away…If we are truly seeking God for His own sake, then losing those feelings will not effect our devotion or peace of mind, but if our motives are selfish, we will lose heart, possibly despair, question our faith, etc.
But to answer your question about if it’s ok to take pleasure in the spiritual consolations you receive, yes that is fine, God wants you to take delight in the gifts He send you, but just don’t put too much importance on them, and most importantly, don’t let your feelings dictate your actions, react by what you know, use your logic and reason, those who let their feelings guide them are easily manipulated, either by their neighbors or the devil,
That’s not to say feeling don’t have their place, sometimes our feelings help us to make good decisions, but what I was trying to get at was merely that we should not depend too heavily on our feelings, there needs to be temperance and prudence there.
It’s good to want to learn these things and strive for holiness, but don’t let it stress you out, God wants you to be happy and have peace, don’t forget why you’re here in the first place, the purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God in this life so that we may be happy with Him in the next, this life is a learning experience, you’re here to learn to love God and learn how to please Him, God gives us this time because He knows it takes time to grow in holiness, He knows better than anyone that part of learning is falling, He is not displeased with us for falling, only when we don’t get back up, of course I’m not saying that sin does not displease God, it most certainly does, but God is far more displeased with a sin committed on purpose, as opposed to one committed through weakness, which is more often than not the case for those earnestly striving for holiness.
Well, sorry if I made that longer than it needed to be, but I hope it helps, take care.
