Cedric Pisegna - Challenges Make Champions (01/21/2026)
Father Cedric draws from 1 John 5, declaring that the victory overcoming the world is our faith in Jesus as the Son of God, and shares stories of Gideon and Moses where God assures them «I am with you» despite their weaknesses, leading to triumph. He emphasizes that challenges, obstacles, and personal struggles are opportunities God uses to forge us into champions and overcomers, illustrated through his own seminary trials, Mandy Harvey’s deafness, and others like Christopher Reeve. The core message is that because God is with us, we are more than conquerors, destined for significance and victory when we face difficulties with faith rather than flee them.
Welcome and Scripture from 1 John 5
I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, the host of «Live with Passion»! Thank you so much for tuning in. I’m producing a whole series about «Victory in Jesus». This comes from 1 John chapter 5: «For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God»?
Gideon’s Story: From Weakness to Valor
I remember back in the Old Testament, the book of Judges, Gideon and the Israelites were facing the Midianites and they were about to have a battle, and Gideon was very worried because he thought they were gonna lose. Well, an angel came up to him and said, «The Lord is with you, O man of valor». And that can be also translated, and I saw it in another translation, «The Lord is with you, O mighty champion. And he replied, 'My clan is the weakest. I’m the least in my family.' And God said, 'But I will be with you.' And they did defeat the Midianites».
Moses and the Assurance of God’s Presence
Same thing happened to Moses. Moses was called to stand before Pharaoh and bring the people out of Egypt. And he went up to God and he said, «I, I, I stutter». And God said, «But I will be with you». And, eventually, he did lead the people out of Egypt into Israel.
God With You in Your Challenges
And you might be thinking, well, I have a challenge, and I’ve got a problem, and I’m going through a relationship trial. I’ve got a dream that’s not quite happening, but I’m weak. I’ve never really done anything that great. And I’ve never really amounted to anything. And people have told me that I’m not gonna be much. Well, I wanna tell you that, because God is with you, you can reach for the stars. You can accomplish your dreams. The mountains in your life are but challenges. The obstacles can become opportunities. And your challenges, because God is with you, will make you a champion.
Personal Seminary Struggles
I think about my seminary days. I went to the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, went there for four years, studied, had a lot of studies, theological studies, met a lot of people. It was very jarring for me because I’d come out of Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, and didn’t know all that many people. Of course, I graduated from high school and graduated from college, but this is a very intense communitarian experience for me. I ended up having stomach aches and headaches and didn’t sleep all that well. It was very difficult for me going through the seminary. I almost left. I sensed that I wasn’t good enough. It was such a challenge for me, and even the theology that I was studying, I wasn’t quite agreeing with all the time.
It was a very difficult situation for me, but I remember one situation, in particular, where I felt like a failure, and I flopped on my bed. And what I heard was the same thing that Gideon heard, the same thing that Moses heard, and I hope the same thing that you will hear, God told me, «I am with you». Seminary, for me, turned out to be a challenge that, I wanna say, changed me and made me who I am today into more of a champion.
Challenges Make Champions
You see, a champion is a winner, a champion overcomes, and we all have hurdles and obstacles and difficulties and problems. And instead of being overwhelmed, we can overcome. The Bible assures us, the one who lives in us is stronger than the one who lives in the world.
And, yes, we have challenges, we have obstacles, and we have difficulties. Everybody has them in some way, shape, or form. And I think God actually gives us those so that we can discover who we are in Christ. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And if you have faith, you’ll reach for the stars. You’ll face your mountains. You’ll let your challenges raise you up instead of defeat you. A champion is somebody who wins, and I believe that you’re a winner in life through faith. A champion is a fighter, and the Bible is a book that encourages us to fight the good fight of faith. The Bible inspires us, motivates us, to be victorious, a winner in life.
The Bible as Ultimate Motivation
I’ve met a lot of motivational speakers in my life, people like Tony Robbins and John Maxwell, Zig Zeigler, Les Brown, they’re all great.
I’ve read some of their books, and I’m a motivational speaker, but nothing motivates me like the Bible. The Bible is a book, many books, that’s what the word Bible means, books, many books that motivate us. It’s the inspired Word of God to become all that we can be. Challenges make champions. Paul the Apostle said, «Run so as to win». Don’t just run, don’t just follow Jesus, follow Him to win. You are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. And I love that we are more than conquerors. In the Greek, it means that we not only win, we win overwhelmingly.
If you watch baseball, it’s, like, you don’t win 5 to nothing. You win 25 to nothing. We are meant, destined, to be more than conquerors. We are gonna defeat death. We are gonna come through this with much treasure and booty. And we are gonna live forever in Jesus. Our challenges, and that’s what this life is, Scripture calls it the Great Tribulation, our challenges are meant to make us a champion. And God wants that to happen. That’s why he put us in this crucible so we’d have the opportunity and make the most of this opportunity. That’s what I’m trying to do with my life. No one is exempt, we all have challenges, we all have obstacles, we all have adversities and difficulties.
God Takes Us Through Trials
It’s hard, life is hard. We all face health battles at every age. So we gotta go through. I found out that God doesn’t necessarily take us around or above or beneath. He takes us through. You know, Psalm 23, «Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil». Why, because you are with me with your rod and staff, give me comfort. What’s the secret? Moses, Gideon, me, so many others, God said, «I’m with you». And when God is with you, you are stronger than you think. And I’m proclaiming to you, God is with you. You’re not a loser, you’re a winner. You’re more than a conqueror. Face your challenges, don’t run from them. Dream dreams, reach for the stars.
Mandy Harvey’s Inspiring Story
Well, a few years ago, there was a contestant, her name is Mandy Harvey, and she had a dream about teaching music. Music was her life. She went to Colorado State, and while she was in college, she began losing her hearing. She became profoundly deaf, depressed, life started passing her by. But as she was going through her depression, because losing your hearing is like a preacher losing their voice, as she was going through her depression, she was a believer, and something rose up within her. And she decided to face this challenge and not back down from it. She got in touch with her, I call it, your inner winner, and we all have an inner winner. It makes us rise up when times are tough.
That’s exactly what I had to do in the seminary. I had to either leave or rise up. Thanks be to God through the Holy Spirit, through God with me, I rose up. And I’m so glad I did because now I have a destiny that I’m fulfilling, and I’m living a significant life. Well, anyway, she rose above. She was stronger than she thought. She tried out for «America’s Got Talent». She stood there, I saw it on television, in front of millions of people and a big studio audience of thousands. She had a little ukulele. And she sang a song, now this is a woman who’s deaf, she sang a song called «Try, » and the verse was, «I know the only thing in my way is me. So I will try. I will try».
Gave me tears and goosebumps. It was a beautiful melody, by the way. Standing ovation from the crowd when she finished. Simon Cowell, sinister Simon Cowell, gave her the golden buzzer sending her to the finals. Can I invite you to try? If you get knocked down, get back up. You learned how to walk as an infant. But in order to learn how to walk, you fell many times, and I fell many times. If you know how to walk, it’s because you got back up. It’s in you, it’s in your DNA. It’s your inner winner. It was me in the seminary, and I’ve gone through other hard times, too. We’ve all heard that saying, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, try. She so inspired me. She wrote a book, Mandy Harvey, «Sensing the Rhythm, » because she senses the rhythm with her feet because she can’t hear. And she said, «Without hearing, I’ve become more of a complete person than ever. I’m more thoughtful, I’m compassionate, and I’m patient toward others».
Growth Through Suffering
And that’s one of the beautiful things about suffering that she learned. And I have to tell you that, in our challenges, God knows how to write straight with our crooked lines. With the pains and the trials and the sufferings of our life, somehow, some way, in our weakness, God’s power shines forth. Try, be ambitious. I didn’t just get ordained a priest to squeak by. I have ambition. I took initiative. Gotta climb your mountains and reach for the stars, try to achieve your potential. And even if you’re old, you got older, you got a prayer life, don’t give up on it. Strive in your prayer life to deepen your relationship with God. Try, try again.
Persistence in Ministry
I remember years ago when I was first getting on television, I’ve been on television now for about 18 years with the Gospel, so proud of that.
I had no idea all this was gonna happen. But how do you start? In the beginning, you have to send out your pilot programs, those are just the beginning, to the different stations and to the networks. And, hopefully, somebody will accept it. Well, the station that goes all over downtown New York, the five boroughs of New York, refused my programs. And it was devastating for me because I really wanted to get on there and reach out to the folks in New York. Well, about two years after that, and it’s hard when you’re rejected because it cuts to your self image and it feels like, I’m never gonna try them again, I sensed God tell me deep inside, «Try it again, try, try again».
So I sent them another series. And wouldn’t you know, they went through a programming manager change, and that same station in New York, not only accepted my programs, they liked them so much, they put me on every day now. It’s a Catholic station, and sometimes they put me on twice a day, like, on Sundays. And that’s what I wanna tell you, don’t give up just because things don’t work out in the beginning. Challenges make champions. You reach for the stars, and you keep pushing on. You know what the name of this program is. Don’t just live, live with passion. And in a nutshell, passion is enthusiasm. It’s giving your all to your life, making the most of your opportunities.
Success vs. Significance
That’s exactly what I’m hoping for you. I wanna make a distinction between success and significance. Mandy Harvey made it to the finals, that’s success, but she inspired millions of people, including myself, when she faced her mountains, that’s significance. I was ordained a priest. I made it through the seminary and was ordained a priest, that’s success. Now I’m reaching out to countless people through media, that’s significance. Significance is when you lead a life that is affecting people, inspiring people, helping people. Don’t just be successful in your life, get a lot of money, hoard it all for yourself, but rather live a significant life. That’s what a champion is. A champion is community-oriented, people-oriented, up with people, trying to help people.
More Stories of Overcoming
That’s what this is all about. Challenges make champions. In preparation for this episode, I studied and read books. And I found out about a man who had lost his sight, he was completely blind, but he still participated in an expedition to climb Mount Everest. People that can see are in great shape. Some of those people can’t even make it up Mount Everest. Many people have died trying to climb the summit of Mount Everest, some 29,000 feet in altitude, but this blind man made it. That’s so inspiring. And then I read about Christopher Reeve. Christopher Reeve, of course, on television, Superman, big muscles, portrayed Superman, the man of steel. The real Christopher Reeve actually had an accident. He fell off a horse, he became a paraplegic. Imagine portraying Superman and then going to be a paraplegic. He considered suicide, he wanted to end his life. But his wife said something to him that really helped him.
«You’re still the same person that I married». He rethought it, he decided to let his challenge, and what a challenge that is being a paraplegic, he decided to let that become something that would help him to reach out. He has a tremendous platform because he was Superman and everybody knew about him, and now he’s raised millions of dollars for research regarding spinal cord injuries, Christopher Reeve.
Paul and Other Biblical Examples
Paul the Apostle, he had the weakness, of course, and begged God to take it away. And God said, «No, Paul, my power shines forth in your weakness. Your challenges can make you a champion». And Paul the Apostle became a champion. He’s inspired me. I read the Acts of the Apostles, I read his letters many times as a young man, and I said, I wanna be like that. And I became a missionary, and missionary life is tough. Living on the road is hard. And, to me, it’s helped determine who I am. You don’t let your sufferings define you. You let them refine you.
Read a book by a man who was born without arms. Can you imagine? His name was John Foppe He became a motivational speaker. You see, his mom and dad wouldn’t let him pity himself. He wanted to, he had no arms. How do you live without arms? But his mom and dad wouldn’t let him feel sorry for himself and have pity. And, finally, he became a motivational speaker. He said, «We all have handicaps. We’re not disabled. We’re otherabled». And he said something very ironic. «All things are within your reach». That is so beautiful for a man born without arms. «All things are within your reach». And I find that to be true in my own life. The dreams that we have, our wildest dreams, and this is it for me, they’re within our reach. Intimacy with God, raising a family, supporting your family, reaching out to people, developing character, your challenges make you a champion.
I read this, and I really like it. Moses stuttered, Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah was a drunk, Paul a murderer, Elijah was moody, Abraham old, Zacchaeus short, and Lazarus was dead, but God used them. Their challenges made them champions. And don’t let your handicaps stand in the way. In fact, your handicap is precisely where God wants to work. Your thorn in the flesh, your weakness is where God’s power can shine forth, and I bear witness to that. Our vulnerabilities, our sufferings, can make us have compassion, make us more relatable.
Personal Vulnerabilities and Ministry
I’ve had panic attacks in my life, social phobias, struggles with acne, low self-esteem, told you, stomach aches in the seminary, headaches, didn’t think I was gonna make it.
I get letters thanking me for being vulnerable. And I’ve realized that my weaknesses make me human. They don’t diminish me. But I have to look at them, and instead of denying them, allow God to work in them and through me to reach other people, and I can become all that I am. And that’s exactly what I’m preaching, challenges make champions. And champions are winners in life.
A Preaching Experience in Erlanger
I remember one time I was preaching in a place called Erlanger, Kentucky. Erlanger is a small town and giving a mission at a church there. I was a pretty young priest.
And as I was looking at the people, it looked like they were kind of distracted. People were kind of looking at their watch. I lost confidence, and I thought this inside, I was thinking to myself, this is bombing. It’s not working at all. Nobody’s gonna go to Confession. After about 11 minutes, I wound down, and I stopped, and I said, I wanna now offer people to go to Confession. I’ll be in the confessional. There’ll be other priests there in the confessional. To my amazement, many, many, many people went to Confession. Maybe they liked it because it was short, I don’t know. One woman came up to me and said, «Father, I wasn’t gonna go to Confession tonight, but what you said so touched me, I went to Confession».
Here I thought I bombed, and God was working all the time. And that has so helped me in my ministry because even when I don’t feel like things are working, I know that God is working behind the scenes, that in my weakness, remember Paul the Apostle, in my weakness, God’s grace is there. His power shines forth. And that’s the way in our life, in our humanness, in our weakness. It’s amazing how God shines forth.
Gideon’s Victory with 300
Talked about Gideon in the beginning. There were 32,000 Israelites, 135,000 Midianites, they’re far outnumbered, the Hebrews, and God says to Gideon, «You’re about to go into battle, but I don’t want you to go with 32,000. I want you to go with 300».
Gideon said, «300»? He said, «God, there’s 135,000 of them. You want us to go with 300, » and he did. They blew the trumpets. They cried out as God told them to do, and the Midianites were self-slaughtered. This is Judges chapter 6. God gave Gideon the victory with 300. You see, the battle belongs to the Lord. Life isn’t about being self-sufficient. It’s about being God-sufficient. We have to allow God to work in us and through us. That’s the true champions in life, and it’s important.
Journey to Priesthood and Media
I think about my journey toward priesthood, I’ve told you a little bit about that, my journey toward media. I had no idea. I had no money, no contacts, I didn’t know anybody, had no programs. How are we gonna do this? God was the one that opened the doors. Yes, I cooperated with God. I had to work, but the bottom line is, God did things that I could not do. Doors opened and now, thanks be to God, he’s allowing me to minister to a lot of people. It’s not a successful life. It’s a significant life. I’ve told you in other episodes, I’m not after your money. I’m after your soul.
I’m a Catholic priest with a vow of poverty. I want your soul. God will do that. My motto is, touching lives, saving souls. This is all about how problems lead to promotion. Struggles can bring strength, obstacles are but opportunities, and challenges make champions.
Final Encouragement and Quotes
JFK said, «Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray to be a strong person». Einstein said, «Adversity introduces a person to themselves». There’s a proverb that says, «The same hammer that shatters glass forges steel». And I want you to say, I’m an overcomer, I’m victorious, I’m stronger than I think. God is with me. All things are possible for God. I’m more than a conqueror in Jesus. I can do whatever it is I need to do. My challenges are making me a champion. Don’t just live, live with passion.