Lent Madness, the online Lenten devotion created by the Rev’d Tim Schenck of Massachusetts, is now less then a month away. An offering of Forward Movement it’s purpose is to educate people on the lives of the Saints of the Church while also striving to bring out a bit of competitiveness in us. 32 Saints are set up in a tournament. 32 become 16, 16 become 8, etc until the last two compete for the Golden Halo.

This will be the 5th season for Lent Madness. Tim ran the first two seasons on his blog in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 he teamed up with Forward Movement which was when I go involved. Last year I was asked to help produce some videos, the majority of which involved the cooperation of a pair of deceased Archbishops in Heaven giving commentary on the matter.

Since coming back to Christ in 2008 I have truly come to view Lent as exceptionally important to Christian witness: We abstain, we fast, we confess our sins more, we humble ourselves, we repent. It is, after all, a time to prepare ourselves for celebrating the Resurrection of Our Lord, God and Saviour.

This year I am lucky, no I am privileged, to be part of the Team supporting Lent Madness. Granted a lot of what I do is to support the Archbishops John and Thomas but you would be surprised hard working with the dead can be.

My mother bugs me occasionally about my social media usage and challenged me to give up on Facebook, Twitter et al this coming Lent. However, if I did that I would have to give up not just on Lent Madness but also on trying to spread the Gospel through social media in what is the most appropriate time of the year to do so.

Lent is sometime more than just challenging yourself to give something up; it is also sometimes a challenge to yourself to add something. Extra to your lives. That is why I encourage people to partake in Lent Madness because, all the competition besides, it allows you to learn about those who have walked the path before us. It is impossible for us, as the Church, to know where we are going without looking back on where we have been.

In Christ,
MA~