2469. The Excellence of Fasting and Abstinence.—(a) Lawfulness.—Fasting and abstinence are acts of virtue, for they subdue the unruly flesh, fit the mind for divine contemplation (Dan, x. 3 sqq.), satisfy for sins (Joel, ii. 12), and add weight to prayers (Tob., xii. 8; Judith, iv. 11; Matt., xvii. 20). The greatest men of the Old and New Testaments practised fasting—Moses, Samson, Elias, John the Baptist, and St. Paul. Our Lord Himself fasted forty days and forty nights (Matt, iv. 2). St. Paul, therefore, numbers fasting with other virtues: “In fastings, in knowledge, in chastity” (II Cor., vi. 5). Examples of abstinence are Daniel avoiding meat (Dan, i. 8 sqq.) and Eleazar who died rather than eat forbidden swine flesh (II Mach., vi. 18 sqq.). Abstention from solid or liquid nourishment is not a virtue, however, if practised from purely indifferent or evil motives, for example, merely in order to recover health through diet, or to train for an athletic contest, or to preserve shape and beauty, or to commit suicide, or to simulate virtue, or to profess false doctrines or if carried to extremes. The forty-day fasts of Moses, Elias and of Our Lord are for our admiration, but very few are able to imitate these examples.
(b) Obligation.—Fasting and abstinence in general are obligatory under natural law, because without them certain necessary ends cannot be obtained. They are remedies for past sins and preservatives against future sins; and, as sin is the common state of man (James, iii. 2; Gal., v. 17), it would be presumptuous to neglect these antidotes. Under the positive law fasting and abstinence have been prescribed in detail, and this was necessary since it is the duty of the Church to determine the time, manner and other circumstances of natural duties of religion which the natural law itself has not determined.
2470. The Sins Opposed to Abstemiousness.—(a) The sin of deficiency in the matter of food is self-starvation. This is the sin of those who are martyrs to fashion, who in order to have a frail figure follow a diet (e.g., denying oneself all substantial food to reduce obesity) that undermines their constitutions and leaves them a prey to disease. It is also the sin of those who from unwise zeal for rigorous fasting deprive themselves of the necessaries of life, or eat what their stomachs rebel against. This sin does not differ from suicide or bodily injury treated above (see 1566 sqq., 1857 sqq.). “It is the same thing to kill yourself by slow degrees as to kill yourself in a moment. And he who kills himself by fasting is like one who offers God a sacrifice from stolen property” (St. Jerome).
(b) The sin of excess in food is gluttony. There is no sin in desiring food or in taking food with satisfaction, for the Author of nature has willed that such an essential act as eating should be pleasurable, and it is a fact that digestion and health suffer when food is taken without appetite or a peaceful frame of mind. But the glutton goes to excess by the inordinate and unreasonable enjoyment he takes in feeding himself.
2471. Ways of Committing Gluttony.—There are many ways of committing gluttony, but they can all be reduced to two heads.
(a) Gluttony in food is excess in the substance, quantity, or quality of the things eaten. The gourmet is extremely fastidious about the substance of his food; he must have the most dainty or costly or rare viands, and nothing else will satisfy him. Cannibalism seems to be lawful in extreme necessity, but it is not lawful to kill human beings in order to eat them. The gorger or gourmand may not be particular about the kind of food that is given him, but he desires a large quantity, more than is good for him. The epicure is too hard to please as to quality; even when there is no festal occasion, he must have a great variety of foods and they must be most carefully prepared, so that he may get the utmost joy of the palate. We should not class among gluttons, however, those who require special foods or special cooking for a good reason, as when health or hard work forces one to observe a strict diet.
(b) Gluttony in eating is excess as to the time or manner of taking food. There is excess about the time when a person is over-eager about the dinner bell, eats before or oftener than he should, or lingers too long at table. There is excess about the manner when a person eats greedily, hurriedly, or selfishly, rushing at his food like a tiger, bolting it like a dog, or depriving others like a pig.
2472. The Sinfulness of Gluttony.—(a) Gluttony is a mortal sin when it is so serious as to turn man away from his end itself, making him prefer his appetite to God. Thus, those sin gravely who are such high livers that they are unable to pay their debts, to the serious detriment of creditors; or who gormandize so much that they can do little work and have to spend most of their time in exercising or taking cures; or whose heavy eating is the occasion of serious sins of anger, impurity, or neglect of religious or other duties. To all these apply the words of St. Paul (Phil., iii. 19): “Whose god is their belly.” To eat until one vomits seems to be a mortal sin, if the vomit is caused by the enormous quantity of food consumed, for such an act seems to be gravely opposed to reason; but there is no grave sin if the vomit is due to the quality of the food or the weakness of the stomach.
(b) Gluttony in itself is a venial sin since it is a disorder about the means, and not a turning away from the end. This happens when one is inordinately fond of gastronomic joys, but is not prepared to sacrifice grave duties for their sakes. Thus, a person who gives too much indulgence to a sweet tooth, or who likes to stuff himself now and then, but who doesn’t disable himself or give scandal by his weakness, sins venially.
2473. Gluttony as a Capital Sin.—(a) The first condition of a capital sin is that it be one of the main sources of evil attraction. This condition is verified of gluttony, for all seek happiness, and gluttony contains one of the ingredients of happiness, namely, pleasure in an unusual degree. Among all sensual delights those of the palate and stomach are admitted to be, along with those of sexual love, the most intense. The first of the three temptations with which Satan assailed Christ was that of gluttony (Matt., iv. 1-4).