For Palm Sunday, here are some thoughts on suffering and penance, in the form of a flow chart.

We all suffer every day, some of us a little, some of us a lot. Some of that suffering is unavoidable. Some of it we can prevent if we take a little effort, if not now, then later (in the meantime, it’s still unavoidable). Some of it is voluntary: we choose the suffering because it goes along with something else we want.

The point is, we can choose how we respond to it. If we offer it up to God, then we are still suffering…but we are also doing penance. If we don’t offer it up, then we’re just suffering pointlessly, and that’s a bummer.

Even if you’re not going out of your way to do penance, you’ll find you have ample opportunity if you just offer up the little sufferings and annoyances that pop up every day. And why waste them?