Cedric Pisegna - You Don't Have To Stay Stuck
Hi, I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, the host of «Live With Passion». Thanks so much for tuning in. The title of this program is «You Don’t Have To Stay Stuck». And this is a series called «I Am With You». And because God is with us, we can change. Wanted to proclaim to you, Mark chapter 1. After John, the Baptist was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God, and he said the time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. I grew up in Massachusetts and in October, some beautiful things happen. The leaves change. We get these pumpkin oranges and fluorescent yellows and fire reds.
And I love Massachusetts in the fall. To me nature is a parable. Jesus proclaimed different parables about nature, and if you look out at nature, it’s telling us that just like the leaves, we can change. A seed will die and sprout and become different. It changes, another parable. And if leaves can change, people can change. Unfortunately, as I travel and go to different parishes and preach and I meet people, they tell me that they feel stuck. They don’t feel like they’re changing and that’s not true. We are changing, our bodies are changing. The world is spinning, life is changing. Technology is changing. Everybody’s changing. But sometimes you can feel stuck in, for example, stuck in anger, stuck in a habitual sin, stuck in a bad habit. Could be lust, could be gluttony, could be an addiction of some sort.
And in order to get unstuck, we need help. Thus, this series I am with you. We need God’s help and we need to co-operate with God. One time I saw a car that was stuck in the mud. If you’ve ever seen that happen, what happens is the driver will try to get out of the mud by accelerating, when you accelerate the wheels spin, and in actuality, it just gets you more stuck, you start to sink even more. What needed to happen, and what did happen is a couple of good Samaritans came and with just a light touch from the driver, the good Samaritans helped lift it and push the car out of the mud. And that’s exactly to me, a parable about what needs to happen with us.
When it comes to us being stuck, try as we might with all the determination that’s within us, we will actually get stuck even more. We need a push, we need help, with our co-operation. Remember what I said? He hit the accelerator just a little bit and as they pushed, they got finally out of the rut. Maybe you feel like you’re in a rut right now and nothing’s happening. You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We’re gonna change all that in this episode today. You’re not gonna do the same things all the time. You’re gonna allow God, who is with you, to help you. That’s the nature of grace. Grace has many definitions. I proclaimed a whole series on grace. Grace in actuality has to do with God’s presence, helping us, saving us, but also helping us.
Talk about grace a little bit here. The secret of the 12 Step Program recovering from an addiction, is grace. There, but for the grace of God, go I, they say in one of the sayings. And it’s so true, without grace, without God’s help, without the help of your higher power, you are gonna be stuck in that addiction for the rest of your life. But with God’s help and your cooperation, it’s a both and, God’s help in your cooperation. It’s like being stuck in the mud. You gotta accelerate a little bit as they push. With God’s help, you can come into recovery, you can experience healing, you can experience freedom. Really important to understand that. If you go to a bookstore, Barnes and Nobles and you’ll see all kinds of self help books, or all kinds of different topics, like anger, and fear, and stress, and diet books, and education is good. Self determination is good, but it’s not enough. We need help. We need a both, and. We need God’s help, and education, and our cooperation.
12 Step Program has a saying as I said, there but for the grace of God, go I. And I pray that as you watch this episode, you will be flooded with grace, grace that will help you to bring lasting change. It was back in the year 170, they found a statue in the catacombs. You know what the catacombs are? There are those underground tunnels where the Christians were being persecuted by the Roman state. So they hid underground and they worshiped underground. They found in the catacombs, a statue, and it was a statue from 170 AD of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. And Jesus had a little lamb around its neck, earliest depiction in statue form of Jesus. You know what happens? A little lamb, the sheep will stray, has a mind of its own, its original sin. And it strays and it goes off and it gets lost and inevitably it gets stuck in a crevice or a hazardous place.
Now, the Shepherd goes in search, what is God doing in your life right now? Searching for you and for me. The Shepherd goes after that little sheep and he looks, and he looks, and he looks, finally he finds the sheep and it’s stuck in the crevice. And what the Shepherd does is he goes and he extricates it, puts it around his neck and brings it home. And that’s exactly what grace is. To me, it’s a snapshot of what grace is. It’s God working in our life to extricate us, if you will, to push us out of that rut that we’re in to get us moving forward. We have to believe that we need God’s help. And God has the power. 12 Step Program calls God the higher power. God has the power to extricate us, to get us out of that rut, to get us moving, and there’s no reason to stay stuck. You can do it with God’s help.
It’s not just your determination, it’s God’s grace and our cooperation with his presence, I am with you, and his help. And you’ll sense movement, you’ll sense a new freedom, you’ll sense change. Jesus’s first sermon and I proclaim to you at the beginning of this episode, what he said. His first sermon was about change. And what did Jesus say? He said. Kingdom of God is at hand. He used the word repent. That’s a word in the Greek, «metanoia». It means you can have a change of mind, a change of heart, you can change is what Jesus was saying. His first talk was about personal change. This series is called «I Am With you».
Why does God come to us? Why is he with us? Number one, to give us a personal relationship with God. Number two, to take us through to give us victory. And number three, to bring change in our life. The Holy Spirit has been given to us. I’ll talk about the Holy Spirit in one of my episodes, but notice it’s the Holy Spirit bringing about holiness, change, sanctification, and we don’t have to stay stuck, because God’s grace is with us. In order to change, we need grace and we need cooperation. Real simple. Cooperation, let’s talk about that. I’ve discovered in life that in order to change, you gotta be motivated. Now, some people call me a motivational speaker and I’ll, I’ll take that.
For example, you go to a health club, I go to a health club to work out, try to stay in shape and inevitably, there’ll be a personal trainer, a coach to help the person. And they’ll be trying to motivate them to do their reps and to do their exercises, and they’ll be speaking to them, trying to help them to get by and to do well. In the same way, I want to be a personal trainer in your life. I want to help you not to stay stuck, to be motivated to move forward. You have to understand that if you’re a Christian, and you wouldn’t be watching this program if you weren’t, when you’re a Christian, there is a purpose to our life.
There’s a meaning to our life, of course, to have a relationship with God and to nourish that, but we’re on a journey. We’re on a pilgrimage, we’re moving, we’re going somewhere, we’re changing, we are becoming, we’re maturing. It’s really important that you invest into your own spiritual life. The fact that you need to change become a person of integrity and maturity. And there’s no microwave maturity, by the way. You can’t just put yourself in a microwave and all of a sudden you’re translated. No, it comes through transformation, which takes time. Do you ever see that bumper sticker, «Be patient with me. God’s not done with me yet». Maybe you need to put that on your car for yourself. Be patient with yourself. God’s not done with you, but don’t use that as an excuse to stay stuck, gotta keep moving.
And that’s the meaning of the Christian life, to develop your relationship with God and to have personal change. And in order to change, you gotta be motivated. I was at a health club one time and pulsating music, and they have tvs so that you can kind of not think about the fact that you’re on an elliptical or a treadmill. Then they have all these posters, reach for the stars, and instead of wish bone, you gotta have backbone, and you can do it, and it’s all to motivate us to do better. In order to change, we need grace, but we gotta be motivated, really important. Went to a youth conference one time in Houston. I was one of about 30 priests at the youth conference, hearing confessions. About 1000 young people, maybe even more in the conference. And I thought to myself, this is a youth conference and we got 30 priests here.
This probably won’t go too long cause not a lot of young people really go to confession. Much to my amazement, as soon as the talk was over, the door opened and they didn’t walk in, they ran to confession. I couldn’t believe my eyes, all these young people coming in, and we were busy for a long time. And I thought to myself, what did that speaker say to get them to come to confession, not just come, run a confession? He was a motivational speaker and he was motivating them to change. And by the way, when it comes to confession, confession is good for the soul. Says in the letter of James, confess your sins to one another, at least to somebody you can trust like a priest. With the fact that we have a seal of confession and we will never divulge what you say, confess your sins to one another that you may be healed.
That’s called catharsis in Psychology. You get it off your chest. You’re only as sick as your secrets. That’s from the 12 Step Program. You let it go, you lay your burdens down, and that can be a major step in your change process is celebrating if you’re Catholic, celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. And if you’re not Catholic, I invite you to confess your sins to somebody that you can trust. You’re only as sick as your secrets. We gotta be motivated. One time I was hearing confessions in Farmington, New Mexico. I’ll never forget this. This is over by the four corners, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, that area. Woman comes to me to confession. She hadn’t been to confession in years and she said that she was at a concert.
I don’t know if you remember, there was a mass shooting at this concert in Las Vegas. Back in 2017, 61 people were murdered. 867 people were injured. She was at that concert and she was so traumatized, she thought she was gonna die. She came in a confession, beautiful confession, reconciled to God, reconciled to the church. And what was it that motivated her, her mortality. That’s exactly what happens on Ash Wednesday, for example. On Ash Wednesday as we begin lent, people come forward, all these lines, thousands, even millions of people come forward, and they put ashes on their forehead. The priest and the deacons do and they say something like remember, oh man that you are dust and to dust, you shall return.
Remember oh woman that you are dust and to dust, you shall return. What is the church doing there? Reminding you of your mortality. Our death has always been a great motivator. We need to live understanding that we’re gonna die. And our time on earth is limited. That can help motivate us. Teach us, this comes right from the scriptures, «Teach us to number our days that we may gain wisdom of heart». And that wisdom is the truth that we are only here for a little while. In fact, the scriptures talk about us being here for a sojourn. A sojourn is a short stay. It’s only a little while, and we gotta be ready. That can motivate us to change. And there’s other motivations. What perhaps was the greatest parable ever told by Jesus, the parable of the prodigal son.
If you remember, prodigal son had a lot going for him, he had money, he had nobility, but he took the money and off he went, squandered it all. Then he had to get a job. He was hungry, slopping with the pigs in the mud and in that suffering, he woke up and he said I gotta change. Suffering is the great denominator that helps people to change. Oftentimes when you’re comfortable, you’re not really thinking about change, but when you’re suffering, you’re thinking I need to make a move. Remember what I said about insanity? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. And you don’t get different results by doing the same thing over and over again. You gotta change, and you change oftentimes when you’re uncomfortable, and there’s suffering in your life.
If you’re going through a suffering right now, I’ll bet you, you’re coming into a new season, season of change. God is working. God is with you. Remember that’s the title of the series and he’s working in you to bring about change. Oftentimes it’s through suffering that we change. And there’s all kinds of different ways that we can suffer; physically, emotionally, go through a divorce. You’re grieving a loved one that maybe just died, that can cause disruption in your life and a lot of change. So there’s many reasons that motivate us, suffering, our own mortality. But I think the greatest motivation to change out of everything, our love for God, our love for God.
The bottom line is, is deep within, we want to do God’s will. And we know that when we sin, we’re doing wrong, we stay stuck in an addiction, it’s not God’s will. If you’ve fallen in love with God, you’re gonna want to please God more than you’re gonna wanna please yourself. The greatest motivation to change, and I’m talking about how to change by grace, but by our cooperation. Whether it be suffering, or a motivational speaker, or your own mortality, or guilt, that’s a great motivator to change. The greatest motivation is loving God. And I pray that as you watch this program, you’ll get in touch with your love for God and make a decision that you’re not gonna stay stuck. Then besides motivation, besides grace, we’re talking about now, how you cooperated with grace. You get motivated sooner or later, you have to admit to yourself what needs to change. That is a crucial step.
When I preach my parish missions, I go with something I call the examination of conscience. I go like this, it’s a little form that I pass out. You can get it on my website for free. Just go to free stuffs, you’ll see examination of conscience. And what I help people to do is look in the mirror, not so much at their face, but at their heart, the different issues that people are dealing with such as anger, lust, gossip, laziness, pride, idols. And I give that form to people, not to make them feel guilty, but rather so that they can examine their issues. Is there a sin in your life that you need to look at?
The 12 Step Program is called a character defect. One woman I gave the form to, I remember she came to confession, she handed it to me with a big smile on her face. She said, Father, I’ve got all this. And sometimes in life we have a lot of issues, but I’ve discovered that usually it’s one, or two, or three main issues that you gotta deal with. And if you don’t admit it to yourself, and you don’t deal with it, then you’re never gonna get better. Remember the definition of insanity? You think by doing the same thing over, and over again that you’re gonna get different results and you won’t.
If you’re stuck in a particular habit, you gotta make a change. And you will get different results as you make the change. I think the number one thing that I hear from people has to do with anger. People are angry, especially politically. There’s a great polarization in America right now. The left and the right, Democrats, Republicans, there’s such anger politically, there’s even anger in the church, anger about the Pope. Some people love the Pope. Some people do not like the Pope. He removed a bishop, Bishop Strickland in Tyler, Texas and people were all up in arms. Other people didn’t care. There’s such a great division and there’s anger just in the world, driving, people are angry, go to football games, people are angry.
I remember at a Miami-New England football game, there was a fight in the stands and a man got murdered at that fight just because of the football game. But you can change. You don’t have to live with overwhelming anger, or lust, or gossip, or addictions. Change is incremental, it’s not immediate, but you will change if you don’t give up. People get discouraged because they don’t see immediate results and they want change right now. Well, give yourself some time. Maybe you won’t be as angry, you won’t gossip as much, you won’t be as intensely angry, but you’ll change, and in time you’ll get better with God’s help. Be patient with me. God’s not done with me yet. And what needs to happen is that you need to submit yourself, abandon yourself, the word in theology is surrender yourself to God.
This is 12 Step theology, that you admit you have a problem, you believe that God will help you, and you give yourself to God, you make a surrender. I’m gonna invite you to do that right now because you need change. We’re gonna get you unstuck and as you surrender yourself, I believe that God is gonna touch you and bring you forward and you are never gonna be the same, especially if you’re struggling with an addiction, it is time to move forward. Enough, is enough. And you know, if you’re a Christian, that you need to be moving forward and not staying stuck, the meaning of life, the purpose of life, of course, relationship with God and moving forward, being transformed, becoming all that you can be.
Who you are is God’s gift to you, but who you become is your gift to God. Carrie Underwood sings a song, and it’s a song about a mother who is distracted. She’s driving, she has a baby in the back seat. She hits a patch of black ice and goes into a spin and as she’s going into the spin, she prays and says, Jesus take the wheel, take it from my hands. I can’t do it on my own. I’m letting go. Jesus take the wheel. That’s surrender. You give control, you give the wheel, you give your heart to Jesus. And I’m gonna pray that prayer of surrender with you right now. And I pray that as you surrender, you will sense God’s presence with you, helping you. And I pray:
Jesus, I’m sorry for my sins, have mercy on me. I surrender my life to you now. I want to go and not stay stuck. Jesus, take the wheel, take control of my life. I love you Lord Jesus. Amen.
And I pray that as you prayed with me, listening to me, as you watch this episode that you will sense God with you, helping you, moving you, getting you unstuck, moving you forward, be motivated, admit it to yourself, make that surrender to God and you will never be stuck again. There’s no reason to be stuck and to stay stuck. Take a look in the mirror and make that change and don’t just live, «Live With Passion».