There is a big gaping hole in our lives. It resides in our hearts and every time we feel hunger, thirst, sexual desire, temptation, we are seeking to fill that hole with something other than God. The problem is that it is a God-shaped hole. There is nothing that we can try to put into that hole that will fill it other than God.
Keep in mind that there are times when I really crave nacho cheese.
Nacho cheese on anything. Mostly, though, for some reason I crave nacho cheese on a Whopper.
If God is God and he created us with a desire for Him, then on a certain level we need to realize that all of our desires are really a desire for God, even if we don't want to admit that it is. That doesn't mean that we don't need food. We do. It is this need of food that makes Gluttony a little special.
You see, we don't NEED any of the other deadly sins.
We do need food to survive.
There are some that would argue that we need other things in order to survive.
Shelter.
Clothes.
These are all things that in the end we can become "gluttonous" over. When we start to desire something to the extreme, we start to suffer from Gluttony. When we desire more than we need to survive, when it takes the place of our desire for God, for our desire for that intimacy in relationships with people, then we start to run into a real, a very real problem.
We see that in society today in a world that is obsessed with the latest and the greatest. We become gluttonous over technology. We become gluttonous over fashion. We become gluttonous over gossip. We become gluttonous over numerous things that in and of themselves are not evil, but become sinful and evil the more we let them take over our lives. When our desire for food takes over our lives to the point that we are unable to give God any of our time, our desire has become misplaced.
Any time that we think to ourselves, "Ah, if I only had _____ then I would be happy," we have fallen into Gluttony. We see it time and again as we struggle with finances or struggle to make the best of a bad situation. We try to feel good by eating. We try to feel good by buying. We try to feel good by setting goals for ourselves and keep wondering why we continue wonder where our true happiness is.
When is it going to be my turn?
When am I going to get what is due to me?
The awful truth is that we do not want what is due to us. The awful truth is that Christ has paid the price so that we can find ultimate fulfillment in God at the end of time.
This is why despite sufferings the saints rejoiced.
This is why it is important to feed the hungry, but not just with physical food, but with the spiritual food of the soul as well. It isn't a matter of satisfying their need for nourishment, it is also a matter of satisfying their need for God.
For filling their God-shaped hole with real food.
Questions for Reflection:
- How do you see Gluttony played out in the world around you?
- How does Gluttony manifest itself in your own life? Do you eat for emotional or spiritual satisfaction?
- Since food is something that we need, do we often find that Gluttony is one of the more "acceptable" sins? How does this apply to the other sins?
- Might Gluttony work to subvert us in other areas of our spiritual and emotional life, not to mention the physical and relationships?
- What are some concrete steps that we can take to be sure that Gluttony is not infecting our lives?
- Why wait for Lent? Take today to fast from something that you usually eat or drink. Maybe it is a treat or something else.
- Make a contribution in the amount of a meal to a homeless shelter or to another organization that feeds the poor. Then make another contribution in the same amount to an organization that feeds not just the poor physically, but also spiritually.
- Volunteer your time to work at a soup kitchen helping the homeless. Try to grasp the idea of real hunger and see if perhaps there is something you can do on a regular basis to assist in feeding the poor.
- Fast from something for the week that is pulling you and your heart away from Jesus.
- Make a deliberate choice to consume as little as possible this week. Use this as an exercise to "purify" yourself from a dependency on worldly things.
Pray one of the four groups of five decades of the rosary: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious
Ask for the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, who suffered intense temptations of gluttony for five years during what can only be referred to as her "dark night of the soul" whenever you feel the temptation to fill that God-shaped hole with food or other physical things.
