Lord, please help me resist the seduction of gluttony. Please help me have the virtue of abstinence so that I might be disciplined in my body and keep my desires under control. I struggle with gluttony, and you know how this vice burdens me. Sometimes I desire things that I believe will give me pleasure and I will overindulge myself to the point that I am no longer consuming to live but living to consume.
Jesus, you are the Bread of Life and Living Water. Nothing on earth can be consumed that will fulfill me as much as you can. I do not need to eat, drink, or indulge in anything for pleasure in excess of moderation. Lord, I give you this vice and humbly ask you to give grace to overcome it.
Jesus, you know my tendency to eat and drink for pleasure beyond what is necessary. You know I use these things as a comfort when I really should abstain. I need strength to resist the seduction of gluttony so that I can obtain the virtue of abstinence. Please give me the grace to no longer desire self-indulgence. I do not want to self-soothe with carnal indulgences when I am feeling emotional or vulnerable. I’d rather be disciplined and desire the peace and comfort that comes from prayer.
Lord, if you give me the virtue of abstinence and help me overcome my love of self-soothing indulgences, I will desire holiness. I will want to fast for the sake of your kingdom. Help me resist my appetites. Please teach me the virtue of abstinence so that I might grow spiritually strong and produce good fruit.
Jesus, you fasted for 40 days in the desert before you began your earthly ministry. The devil tempted you three times, but you abstained from his seductions. You understand how hard it is to abstain from food and drink. You know my heart. You know everything I lack. Without your help, I can’t overcome my habit of overindulging myself. Please teach me how to control my desire for self-indulgence. Give me the strength to overcome my addictive habits of overindulgence and resist the seduction of gluttony.
AMEN.
"Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion.
Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance."
Resist the Seduction of Gluttony for Abstinence
Concerning Gluttony of the Belly
by St. Hildegard von Bingen
“Because the devil first prevailed upon men to sin with gluttony, he can more easily and fully snare men with other sins. For man was first seduced by the serpent with food. When men have their bellies filled, they begin to be proud, as if they were overflowing with good things. But this sin can be resisted with abstinence, and man is warned not to clothe himself with foolishness.”
Liber Vitae Meritorum, The Second Part, Paragraph 50
Week 8 of the Virtue Meditations Series
Resist the Seduction of Gluttony for Abstinence
Reflection:
The virtue of abstinence gives us power over concupiscence. We resist the seduction of gluttony and more closely imitate Jesus through penitential fasting. We should not fast to gain something we desire from God. On the contrary, we fast to remind ourselves that we are sinners, that we use things for the pleasure of our bodies and our self-indulgence causes us to forget about God.
Gluttony is not just about food or drink. Yes, food and drink are often associated with gluttony, but gluttony can be any overindulgence we struggle with. Gluttony can be something like too much time watching television, surfing the internet, or scrolling on social media. It can be too much time shopping and too many purchases for things you want but do not need. It is a vice of excess.
Gluttony causes me to focus on myself. It is concerned with what I can do to please myself, pamper myself, feed myself, and entertain myself. It’s all about me. When I feed my gluttony I may believe I will have satisfaction afterward, but this is not the case. Gluttony causes guilt. It doesn’t matter what I overindulge in, the result afterward is always regret.
Without the discipline to have boundaries on myself and my desire to overindulge, I will always end up with a feeling of regret. If it’s food, then I will suffer the effects on my body and my health. If it is drinking, then there will be consequences for my drunkenness. If it is wasteful spending, then I will become vain and materialistic. If it is too much time wasted on digital technology, then I will succumb to other vices as well like impurity, sloth, envy, and greed.
The Original Sin of Gluttony
St Hildegard teaches us that the sin of gluttony is the original sin of Adam and Eve, who were tempted by the serpent to eat a fruit that God had forbidden. Through the sin of our first parents, we have fallen natures so humans naturally struggle with concupiscence, or the ‘desires of the flesh.’ St. Hildegard explains what this means; humanity is “estranged from the protection of holiness” by our sin of “forgetting about God.”
When we fast from the things that we enjoy, this brings our hearts and minds back to remembrance. This happens because abstinence overcomes the sin of gluttony. Through fasting we willfully deny ourselves the ‘forbidden fruit’ that seduces us to forget about God; instead we proclaim we will not forget Him. Fasting shows we are willing to suffer and abstain from pleasure out of solidarity and love for the one who loves us and redeemed us at so high a price.
This is why the Church teaches us to fast on Fridays during Lent. Historically, Catholics also fasted on Fridays during Advent until the early 20th century. Some Catholics choose fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, but this is not obligatory. Fasting on Wednesday is a way to remember the day the council gathered to betray Jesus, and fasting on Friday is a way to remember his passion and death.
How to Resist the Seduction of Gluttony
Look at the areas of your life where you most forget about God. What indulgences do you always find yourself doing to satisfy your carnal desires? Willfully choose to abstain for a while from one of them. It is okay to continue this activity as long as it is not considered sinful but just do it in moderation. Replace your habit of overindulgence with an activity that shows love for God and your neighbor. Mindfully take that selfish desire within you and resist your urge for self-indulgence; instead please God.
What might this look like? Perhaps you love to eat a favorite dish. Think about this food right now. Let your mind smell it, chew it, taste it. Now make this food and instead of eating it, give it to someone who needs a meal. Do you have an elderly neighbor? Is there someone you know who is sick right now? Do you know someone who cannot afford to buy food and is hungry? By practicing abstinence and fasting with generosity and love, we show conversion of heart, which is what the Catechism teaches.
In this way, you will fast with love in your heart for God and your neighbor. You will find great joy in doing this. Another wonderful practice in moderation and humility is to put yourself last when you are offered food. Choose to take the least desirable portion; wait until all others are fed, and make sure to take a modest amount so that someone else will have plenty. This is a wonderful practice of charity and moderation in the spirit of abstinence that loves your neighbor, and it will help you overcome habits of gluttony.
Going Further:
Spend time prayerfully meditating on Isaiah 58. This chapter talks about authentic fasting that leads to a blessing from God. Remember what the Catechism teaches about fasting. It says that fasting must come from an interior conversion of your heart. This is made clear in Isaiah 58 in a beautiful way. Dialogue with the Lord after reading this passage. Can you resolve this week in light of what you learned in Isaiah 58? What might you do to abstain from the temptation of gluttony and charitably use your fasting? Journal about it.
Let us Pray:
Now that we understand the virtue of abstinence, let’s begin with a prayer of petition for it.
Virtue of Abstinence
Prayer of Petition
Eternal Father, I am the work of your creation, made in your image and likeness but too weak to conquer the devil by my own power. I ask you for the grace to grow in virtue, surrendering all my thoughts, words, and deeds to you. Please help me resist the devil and all his tricks. Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do the works that he does and that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name he will do so that You may be glorified. Heavenly Father, you sent us your Son to show us what it means to have perfect virtue in life. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and has perfect virtue. Father, have mercy on me and please give me the grace I need to grow in the virtue of abstinence so that I might grow in holiness and imitate Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds. AMEN.
Now let’s contemplate the Lord by listening to him speak to us in the Gospels. Slowly meditate on the following passage, reflecting on his virtue of abstinence. Take your time. Pause over a word or phrase that speaks to your heart. Reread the passage again, and then ask Jesus to show you how you can imitate him in his abstinence and better resist the seduction of gluttony and the habits of overindulgence you struggle with. Choose a word or phrase from this passage to write in your journal, and add your thoughts. Go back and prayerfully re-read it throughout the week.
Virtue of Abstinence
Jesus is Tempted in the Desert
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Let us Pray:
Jesus, you were hungry, tired, and tempted. Rather than give in to the temptation of the devil you said, “Get away Satan!”
Please help me resist every temptation to give into my carnal desires for food and drink and the things that give me self-indulgent pleasures. Let me learn to enjoy these things in moderation. I want to resist overindulging out of love for you and my neighbor.
Please let me grow in the virtue of abstinence so that I can become closer to you and have more holiness. Lord, the Bible says that the sins of the flesh are deadly (Romans 8:13). Please do not let me fall into this sin and forget you as Adam and Eve did in the garden.
Please protect me from the temptations of the devil. Give me a pure heart, mind, and eyes that look to heaven daily. Help me imitate the way you resisted the devil in this scripture passage. Let me be one with God in my heart and through my actions, with fasting, and praying as you taught us.
I do not want to give into self-indulgence. Help me persevere in abstinence. Help me love my brothers and sisters in Christ who have less than I do and freely give from my abundance.
Jesus, you are a gift to me. Thank you for being present to me. Give me the grace to be present to you and to grow in the virtue of abstinence. AMEN.
Virtue of Abstinence
A Prayer for an Increase in Virtue for Others
Lord Jesus Christ, you say that when two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us. Jesus, in your name I lift up every person who has joined this prayer challenge or will join it in the future. I ask you to give us all the grace we need to grow in virtue and holiness so that we may love and serve you in our lives and through the people we love and care for. Help us in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Guide us all by your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to overcome every temptation from the evil one. We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Together as a group we will pray for each other and strive to make good resolutions and keep them. Remember, any form of penance you perform must come from a place of charity in your heart. When you fast, do so out of love for your neighbor and for God. Make your sacrifice a loving one. This pleases God.
If you fail, do not quit trying. Be merciful to yourself and begin again. The habit of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays may be a good place to start. Choose something small to abstain from and be charitable as you fast. God knows your heart, and he loves you.
How do I Practice Virtue?
You’ve learned about the 8th Virtue, and you’ve prayed for God to give you grace. Now what? Let’s take a look at the Catechism for some guidance on how we can make Week 8 a successful effort.
“A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.”
Making Resolutions
Take a moment to reflect on the virtue of abstience. What are the ways you can freely practice this virtue this week? Ask the Lord to give you opportunities, and when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you, take action. Write down your resolutions for this coming week in your prayer journal. Remind yourself to complete these resolutions daily for this entire week, and as the Spirit prompts you, feel free to write about your experiences with this virtue throughout the week.
In My Thoughts:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my thoughts by… (make your intention).
In My Words:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my words by… (make your intention).
In My Actions:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my actions by… (make your intention).
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Week 8 Mental Prayer Meditation
Replace Bitterness with a Generous Heart of Love
“Replace Bitterness with a Generous Heart of Love” – Join us for our 9th meditation on the 35 virtues of St. Hildegard of Bingen.