We’re coming to an end of our list of the seven deadly sins, and the second-to-last one is gluttony, very similar to the lust that we looked at last weekend. It’s the matter of the sin that is different here, for we are now referring to an appetite for food and drink. But like lust, the sin of gluttony has to do with the defiance of an established order of reason, and a desire to be unrestrained in our enjoyment of food and drink: acting too quickly, spending too much, eating or drinking too much, being too eager about it, giving over-much attention to food and drink. In our health-conscious age, we are also aware of the injury that results to our physical wellbeing, and also to our mental health, and our ability to carry out our various duties at home and at work.
And in the throes of this passion, as with every other sin, we can lose sight once more of the final end of all human life – happiness with God in heaven – this is something that should colour our whole lives.
But we are generally not so deeply attached to the kitchen larder as all that, and gluttony is mostly a venial sin, although it is still intrinsically disordered. We should nevertheless be aware of the mortal sin of those for whom their belly is their god, as S. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, and of them who know that such an attachment can either ruin their health or otherwise prevent them from performing a duty of obligation.
We shall now have to call up the cardinal virtue of temperance or moderation to help us again to moderate an appetite of our bodies. I said a few weeks ago that moderation doesn’t necessarily mean complete abstinence, but I think we can see how abstinence (in the circumstance of bad addictions) could help build the strength of soul required to control a disordered desire for excess. Many people I know use a type of buddy system, which involves appointing a friend to call them to account for some addiction or other. Everybody’s requirement in the end is different, and the diet of an ordinary working family person will differ from the diet of a monk in monastery. Other cardinal virtues we can call up here are (i) justice, which is suppose to administer charity to those who are deficient of the material goods they need and so is offended by the misuse of resources that gluttony causes; and (ii) prudence, which is a governing virtue that helps us to live good, moral lives, to glorify God and love our neighbour.
“‘But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them, tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by My Father Who is in heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.'”
Gospel of S. Matthew, 18: 15-20 [link]
Our readings at Mass this weekend are about moral correction of those in our communities who are in error. Even the psalm sandwiched between the readings, Psalm 94(95), is a psalm of rebuke for the infidelity of the Israelites who had just escaped Egypt under Moses, and then of the Hebrews of every age who push against the requirement of fidelity towards God: the refrain was ‘Oh that today you would listen to His Voice, harden not your hearts…’
We must recall that charity or love has to do ultimately with our final end with God in heaven. We want this for ourselves, and because we love our neighbour we want it for them as well. Christ asked us to love even our enemies, and so we want this eternal happiness for them as well. But the promise of eternal life has conditions, doesn’t it? We know these conditions, because we study Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. We know our Catechisms from to back, don’t we? Not everybody we know does. If we fall into sin and error, it is our fault. If they fall into sin and error, and we fail to correct them, their fall is our responsibility, too.
Does that sound too harsh? We risk at least unpopularity if we make moral corrections in our present cultural situation, even within our homes and with our family members and friends. But in our first reading this weekend, God sends the prophet Ezechiel as a sentry or watchman to the Hebrew nation with an enormous responsibility for that entire people. The sentry on the wall of an ancient city especially in the watches of the night was responsible for the safety of the city and the castle. If he failed, the city could have been in great danger. The prophets had the burden of accusing the whole church of God of sin, and calling them to repentance…
“‘So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from My mouth, and shalt tell it them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, thou shalt surely die,’ if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand. But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
Prophecy of Ezechiel, 33: 7-9 [link]
Just as God sent Ezechiel, He also sends us within our own families, our own communities, and our own societies with similar responsibilities. We must make a serious attempt to correct those in error. Christ in the gospel reading goes further when He gives the Apostles the governing function within the Church, for they as shepherds of the church are both watchmen and gate-keepers – they are to preserve the unity and the peace of the Church by removing from the community those troublemakers who refused to reform themselves and would end up creating factionalism.
This is why we have Church tribunals and a system of Church law, and rules about communion and, heaven forbid, excommunication. The responsibility of the shepherds is aimed at maintaining communion and union within a community that is recognised by its unique approach to brotherly love and charity. That’s what the binding and loosing of the gospel message is all about – the authority of the bishops and priests is not meant to harass to ordinary Faithful, or to inflict punishment upon wrongdoers for the sake of it. Rather, it is maintain a secure house, within which the Christian life of charity/love can prosper.
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law. For Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.”
Letter of S. Paul to the Romans, 13: 8-10 [link]
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 