Pope: there is also a 'social gluttony' that is killing the planet
At the general audience, the pontiff's reflection on vice in the relationship with food. "In the way we eat, our interiority and our attitudes are revealed. There is a voracity that makes us consumers, leading us to pounce on everything. And it is the opposite of our vocation to be Eucharistic men and women."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The sin of gluttony is not only that of "those who give in to a slice of cake". There is also a social dimension, which makes it "perhaps the most dangerous vice". Because voracity today is "killing the planet".
This was Pope Francis' reflection this morning in his address to the faithful during the Wednesday general audience held in the Paul VI Hall. Continuing the new cycle of catechesis on vices and virtues, which he recently began, he focused on the vice of gluttony, inviting him to understand in depth and in all its aspects.
Jesus – he explained – at Cana and in other episodes of the Gospel reveals his "sympathy towards human joys". He further explains that “wedding guests cannot fast when the groom is with them; they will fast when the groom is taken away from them" (see Mark 2:18-20).
“Jesus,” commented the pontiff, “wants us to be joyful in his company; but he also wants us to participate in his sufferings, which are also the sufferings of the little ones and the poor."
Furthermore, by eliminating the distinction between pure foods and impure foods, he tells us that "the attention we must have is internal: therefore not on the food itself, but on our relationship with it".
“This serene relationship that Jesus established with regard to nutrition – he added – should be rediscovered and valorised, especially in societies of so-called well-being, where many imbalances and many pathologies manifest themselves. You eat too much, or too little. We often eat alone. Eating disorders are spreading: anorexia, bulimia, obesity... And medicine and psychology are trying to address the bad relationship with food."
“Nutrition is the manifestation of something internal – he further explained – the predisposition to balance or excessiveness; the ability to thank or the arrogant claim of autonomy; the empathy of those who know how to share food with the needy, or the selfishness of those who hoard everything for themselves. This question is so important: tell me how you eat, and I will tell you what soul you have. Our interiority, our habits, our psychic attitudes are revealed in the way we eat."
Hence - therefore - the importance of also reflecting on the social consequences of voracity. “We pounced on everything – he observed – to become masters of everything, while everything had been handed over to our custody, not to our exploitation. We have renounced the name of men, to take on another, consumers."
Instead "we are made to be Eucharistic men and women, capable of thanksgiving, discreet in the use of the earth". “We ask the Lord to help us on the path to sobriety – he concluded – and that the various forms of gluttony do not take over our lives”.
Even today, finally, the Pope's invitation to prayer for the victims of the war in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine and in many other areas of the world was not lacking. “Let us pray, let us pray for these people who are under war - said Francis - and let us pray to the Lord to sow the seed of peace in the hearts of the authorities of the countries”.
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