Is Gluttony a Grave Sin?

[Holly3278]

Hi everyone. Is gluttony a grave sin? Last night I cooked too many french fries and ate them all. I ate more than I should have eaten. Did I commit a mortal sin?

 

[baltobetsy]

Holly, did you set out to cook too many fries because you wanted to eat them all, thinking it was wrong and deciding after full reflection to do it anyway?

Or did you cook more than you realized and, rather than let them go to waste (they’re never good warmed over), you just kept eating?

Normally, I would think a larger than usual serving of a food would not be grave matter if it only happens occasionally, without much thought. True gluttony would be making a kind of god of your food. Did you do that?

Also, remember that you cannot commit a mortal sin without knowing it. The fact that you have to ask makes me think you did not sin mortally.

Betsy

 

[Holly3278]

Holly, did you set out to cook too many fries because you wanted to eat them all, thinking it was wrong and deciding after full reflection to do it anyway?

Or did you cook more than you realized and, rather than let them go to waste (they’re never good warmed over), you just kept eating?

Normally, I would think a larger than usual serving of a food would not be grave matter if it only happens occasionally, without much thought. True gluttony would be making a kind of god of your food. Did you do that?

Also, remember that you cannot commit a mortal sin without knowing it. The fact that you have to ask makes me think you did not sin mortally.

Betsy

No I certainly didn’t set out intending to sin. I guess I am good! Thanks!

 

[hlmem]

Hi everyone. Is gluttony a grave sin? Last night I cooked too many french fries and ate them all. I ate more than I should have eaten. Did I commit a mortal sin?

I think God is a lot more forgiving then that. Gluttony is more desiring more than you need in a greedy way.

If your focus is on more, more, more… than its Gluttony.

But the desire not to waste food falls well short of sin.

 

[awalt]

I can’t in my biggest imagination envision eating too many french fries as gravely evil (which would then bring about the question as to whether it was mortal (the other two requirements being met). Gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins, that means it can grow to gluttonous behavior that is mortal.

 

[Jason_Hurd]

Remember, too, that gluttony does not just mean overindulgence, as is commonly thought. As a previous poster indicated, it extends to ‘making a kind of god of your food’, or drink, for that matter. This includes being overly picky, unhealthy overanalysis of every bite, that sort of thing. Some people have to watch their diets for health reasons, like diabetics, hypertensives and the like, but those who follow the latest fads in diets and nutrition should be very, very careful that they are not committing a strange form of idolatry or becoming gluttonous themselves.

 

[mommyof4]

but those who follow the latest fads in diets and nutrition should be very, very careful that they are not committing a strange form of idolatry or becoming gluttonous themselves.

I never thought of it that way. I guess that a deliberate obcession with anything could become grave matter.

 

[baltobetsy]

Excellent point, Jason. Was it in the *Screwtape Letters *that the counter-intuitive glutton was described as an insufferable old woman who said, “All I want is a piece of really crisp toast.”

Betsy

 

[thistle]

CCC 1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called “capital” because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.

 

[Jason_Hurd]

Excellent point, Jason. Was it in the *Screwtape Letters *that the counter-intuitive glutton was described as an insufferable old woman who said, “All I want is a piece of really crisp toast.”

Betsy

Exactly right, Betsy! Great minds think alike! I believe that book was the first place I encountered the idea that gluttony extended far beyond mere overeating, and it opened my eyes to a lot. Thanks for the quote!

 

[Nick]

to be a mortal sin there must be grave matter, full knowledge and deliberate consent

 

[ribozyme]

Hi everyone. Is gluttony a grave sin? Last night I cooked too many french fries and ate them all. I ate more than I should have eaten. Did I commit a mortal sin?

I doubt that the Catholic Church would deem such a peccadillo as a mortal sin.

Some life extensionists argue that calorie restriction can increase life span. Gluttony can ironically be called a “mortal sin” because of this as it might decrease your chances of living long enough to live forever. You should excerise prudence in what you eat and abjuring from indulging ad libitum.