Penance, sacrifice, and the suffocating effects of control

(The crosses we don't choose are the ones that transform us)

I am hardly the first person to point out that the mandated penances of the Roman Catholic Church are pretty skimpy, compared either to some other Christian denominations, or to other religions. Many of my neighbours are Muslim, and we live opposite a large mosque and Islamic cultural centre, so I get a pretty good picture of how Ramadan looks for Musli…