For his personal Lenten practice last year, Deacon James Grogan of St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold, then studying at the seminary and living on the Catholic campus of Seton Hall University, chose to do something extra, rather than give something up.

That something extra was spending five to 10 minutes each day in prayer with a cross, with the stipulation that he would find a different cross each day.

“It made for a profoundly ‘spiritual’ Lenten journey, because the time of contemplation would often take me outside of myself, considering the crosses of others, or perhaps considering the people who worked in a building topped by a cross,” Deacon Grogan wrote on his blog, “The Road Less Traveled.”

This year, he decided to expand his practice to include and challenge others by setting up a group on Facebook called Forty Crosses – A Lenten Journey. And he’s been somewhat surprised and entirely moved by the experience so far.

“I had hoped for some people to offer crosses that had a special meaning to them,” Deacon Grogan said during a phone conversation on Monday, the fifth day of Lent. “And what I am seeing is literally half a dozen people each day having some real emotional ties to the crosses that they are sharing.”

Some people have posted to the group that they are carrying the cross of a deceased child, or the struggle of caring for an aging parent. (Full disclosure: I’ve been somewhat of a wallflower in the group so I could write this piece with a better understanding of what happens there daily. And I, too, have been moved by the dialog.)

“Whether others post a response or not, they can say: That’s the same cross that I’m carrying,” Deacon Grogan said.

He said the theme he comes back to each time he thinks about Forty Crosses is Simon of Cyrene, the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion.

“Each of the participants gets the chance to help each other bear one of their crosses. And I think that is a remarkable thing to see it unfold,” he said.

The Lenten journey of Forty Crosses has not been relegated to cyberspace, which is a criticism Deacon Grogan has heard about the use of social media. (The sense that there’s a lack of a personal, human connection online is something I’ve heard a lot, too.)

“There have been three occasions where people have approached me in our parish to ask, ‘Are you doing that cross thing on the Internet?’”

And that question in person has led to conversations about the crosses people bear every day.

“My experience with this has been anything but impersonal,” Deacon Grogan said.

The group isn’t just for locals, either. Some of the dozens of members live in the Carolinas, Florida and even Paris, France.

“We end up with this rag-tag group of folks who are all praying together,” Deacon Grogan said. Pretty cool.

So what happens to Forty Crosses after Easter Sunday? Deacon Grogan doesn’t know yet, but he knows participants are gaining a lot from their group membership.

“If the intention of Lent is to transform us so that when we get to Easter Sunday we come out of this Easter cycle different than when we came into it, then I think this project is helping us to do that.”

You can read more about the project on Deacon Grogan’s blog, “The Road Less Traveled,” at www.godofmyprayer.blogspot.com, or join the group by searching “Forty Crosses — A Lenten Journey” on Facebook.

Brittany Wilson is the Diocese of Trenton’s social media coordinator; she can be reached at [email protected].