GLUTTONY
The next officer on Satan's ship is Ensign Eatoomuch. He stands for gluttony — the fifth deadly sin. Gluttony means eating too much and drinking too much. A drunkard is a glutton as much as the one who overeats.

Napoleon during his Egyptian wars was riding beside his troops. Suddenly he stopped and stared, and he had good reason to stare. From a soldier's bayonet there hung a fat French sausage. "Why do you hang a sausage to your bayonet?" asked the emperor, not knowing whether to smile or scowl. The soldier answered, "That, sire, is for Philippe, the soldier behind me." At this there stepped from the ranks the fattest soldier in the army, a man easily the size of any three. He began his story, "Sire, I am Philippe. This being the holy season of Lent, I have sworn not to eat any meat until Easter. I have this sausage hung in front of my nose all day long to test my will power." Napoleon replied — and I want you to remember these words, "It is dangerous to test our will power. Under trial we usually find out how little we have." At the end of the campaign Napoleon sent for Philippe. "Did you keep your promise not to eat meat in Lent," he asked. The soldier humbly answered, "Sire, for a long time, for most of Lent in fact, I withstood the odor of that tempting French sausage hanging from the bayonet of the soldier in front of me. But one hot day I could hold off no longer and I ate it nibble by nibble as I marched along." "What day was that?" he was asked. Philippe blushed as he replied, "Sire, it was Good Friday."

In the matter of gluttony children do not have to worry too much. Children have to eat a lot to grow. But you should avoid extremes. The opposite to Ensign Eatoomuch is not Eatoolittle but Ensign Eatenuff. There are, however, one or two cases in which you may be tempted to gluttony. For example: eating meat on Friday. The Church has made it a law not to eat meat on Friday because our Lord died on Friday. She wants us to do penance on that day by not eating meat. Knowing this, if you eat meat on Friday, you are just as gluttonous as Philippe, the fat soldier. Remember, though, that if you forget it is Friday and think about it after you have eaten meat, that is no sin at all. There is another case in which you may be tempted to greediness in regard to food. We will say that there are four of you in the house. You look into the cupboard and see that there are only three pieces of cake. You know that if you grab your piece first your little brother will not get any. You look quickly over your shoulder. Nobody is coming. Swish, gulp, and grunt. The cake is gone. You had your piece of cake and little brother gets the crumbs. If you do that you are a glutton. If someone has to go without something how about letting it be you once in awhile. Greediness is not the thing for one who is trying to carve his soul into the image of his Emperor — Christ. 
                                                                   Source:  Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                           "Be prudent therefore and watchful in prayers."

ST. PAUL gives us this warning because he knows that it is very easy for us to become careless about our prayers. We say them so often that they can become mere routine. Every now and then we have to stop and ask ourselves, Am I really trying to pray well?"

That is just what happened to Johnny. He used to say his night prayers every night, but he became careless. Every night he raced through his prayers just a little faster. Then one night he knelt down by the bed and set a new speed record for night prayers. He was the fastest night-prayer-sayer in the world. He hopped into bed and was just beginning to dream when a storm broke. First came the rain and the wind. Then came flashes of lightning like golden arrows through the dark. After each flash came the angry grumbling of the thunder. That was enough for Johnny. He was afraid of lightning. He jumped out of bed and said to himself, "I'll say my prayers all over again, but I had better say them more carefully this time."

We can prevent carelessness if we keep in mind how important prayer is. It is the raising up of the heart and mind to God. In other words we are talking with God, face to face and heart to heart. We talk with Him as with a trusted friend and there should be no carelessness. Prayer brings us before the throne of God Almighty, Who made us out of nothing and keeps us from falling back into nothingness by His power. Prayer brings us into the presence of the King who holds the world in the palm of His hand the way a boy would hold a bird's egg. In the presence of the King, carelessness would be impolite. Pray always, then, and pray without ceasing. God is always ready to listen to us anytime we are willing to talk with Him. A sailor was once shipwrecked off the coast of South America. He drifted for days on a raft. When his water supply ran out he suffered dreadfully from thirst in the tropical heat. Finally, he was rescued. The captain of the ship which saved him said, "You did not know it but you were on fresh water, not salt water, all the time. We are in the mouth of the Amazon river, which is such a large river that it makes the ocean fresh  for hundreds of miles as it empties into it. All you had! to do was cast your bucket where you were and drink to your heart's content." Make that our motto in prayer.

"Cast the bucket where you are."
Pray always and pray without ceasing. There are about; (three hundred) children here in this church this morning. I can tell you exactly how many of you will get to heaven — those of you who say your prayers regularly and; carefully.
                                                                Source: Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949