Cedric Pisegna - The Heart of it All (01/24/2026)
I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, the host of, «Live With Passion». Thank you so much for tuning in. This comes from Mark chapter 1, «Passing along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.' And immediately, they left their nets and they followed Jesus. Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and Jana’s brother, who were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed Jesus». Peter and Andrew, James and John, they’re fishermen, and when they encountered Jesus, they left everything behind, including their family, and, «Immediately,» the Gospel of Mark says, «they went and followed Jesus».
And that’s the core of the Gospels, this meeting, this encounter, this coming together with Jesus himself, wow! The message of the New Testament in a nutshell, that people saw the Son of God and everything changed. Matthew, for example, a tax collector. And Jesus came to the tax collector booth, «Come follow me,» his life changed, wrote a gospel. Bartamaeus, blind beggar sitting by the side of the road. Heard that Jesus was coming, Jesus called him, his life changed. Zacchaeus up a tree, wealthy tax collector. Same thing, Jesus called him, his life changed. Mary Magdalene, we can go right through the gospel and all these different people.
See, Jesus is inclusive. He reached out to the periphery, he reached out to the marginalized, reached out to the broken, the outcasts of the day. He called them, he related with them, he loved them. I think about my own life. Born and brought up Catholic, teenager like many after confirmation, fallen away from the church, didn’t go to church for years, except Christmas and Easter. Get into college, studying business, praying a little bit, not really going to church. I’m living the life of a teenager. My girlfriend and I go to this play called «Godspell». It was in Boston at the old Charles Theater. And as I’m sitting there watching this play, the Gospel of Matthew being acted out in humorous ways through stories, through parables, «Godspell».
And as I’m watching this, God was touching me. I was thinking to myself, «I never knew how attractive Jesus was. I never knew how humorous he could be». It was very humorous the way they acted it out. And it was very clear to me that this was truth. Jesus was truth. In fact, he said that in the Gospel of John. He said, «I am the way, the truth, and the life». It was obvious to me, I was being bowled over that this is truth and I didn’t have it. I could see it but I wasn’t a part of it. And I left that theater that day and thought to myself, «I have got to look into this because this is truth and I don’t have it».
And what was happening at that moment? Jesus was beckoning to me. There was a theater full of people, and I don’t know what happened to them. I don’t know what happened to my girlfriend at the time, but I know what happened to me. I was hearing from Jesus. And that’s the purpose of this episode. I am praying that like Peter and Andrew, James and John, like myself, and like so many others, the core of the gospel, what really matters will happen to you. You will sense Jesus inviting you to something more. And most of you are already Christians, you go to church, and that’s wonderful, and I’m so glad for your journey, but there could always be more. But some of you, yeah, you’re not really sure about all this, and you want to know Jesus, and you’re just tuned into the program, some of you are not really sure.
Well, this is for you, and I believe that Jesus is beckoning to you. I’m a Catholic priest calling out to you in the name of Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life, he’s the resurrection, he’s the Bread of Life, he’s the Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd goes after sheep, especially those who are lost, those who are hurting. Jesus said, «It’s not the healthy that need a doctor, it’s the sick. I haven’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance». And no matter how long it’s been and no matter what you’ve done, now is your moment.
He wasn’t just somebody that lived 2,000 years ago, he’s the risen Lord who can, even though there’s 8.2 billion people on the face of the earth, 8.2 billion people and growing, he’s somehow some way, because he’s the Son of God, he can be personal and present to each one of us at the same time. That is so amazing. And he’s present to you right now. He didn’t just live 2,000 years ago, he did, but he’s alive now. And in addition to that, God is trinity. Father who is sovereign over all, Jesus who has risen, and then the Holy Spirit who has revolutionized my life and continues to revolutionize my life, wow! So, my point is that you can have a relationship with Jesus right now, personal, individual, real, and that’s the core, that’s the heart of it all, that’s what the gospels are driving at all the time. In each of the gospels you’ll read that Jesus is the Son of God trying to evoke faith in us so that we can have this deep, intimate relationship with the risen Son of God. That’s what I invite you to right now.
He said, «Come to me all you who labor and are heavy burdened, I’ll give you rest». There’s the joy of intimacy, the joy of being loved, comfort of companionship, the assurance of eternal life. You can’t buy this, you can’t earn it, no one deserves it, but it’s gospel, it’s good news, it’s the truth, wow! Revolutionized my life. Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation, «The Joy of the Gospel,» he said, «I invite all Christians,» that’s people that go to church. «I invite all Christians right now to something real and personal with Jesus». That’s the Catholic Church, that’s the Christian church if you’re not Catholic. The core is having something personal, real, and intimate with Jesus Christ.
It’s very simple, it’s not complicated. All the sacraments that we have in the Catholic Church, all the rituals, the Bible, it’s all a means to bring us to Jesus. The sacraments are moments of encounter with Jesus. The church stands for Jesus. Sometimes you’ll see a priest come into mass, all the time actually. And he’ll come to the altar and kiss the altar. What’s he doing? The altar is a symbol of Jesus. After the gospel, we proclaim the gospel, we’ll kiss the gospel book, that is, Jesus coming through the Word. Jesus was and always will be the message of the Catholic Church. Yeah, there’s a lot of other things and laws and rules and sacraments, I get all that, but the heart of it all, it’s Christocentric.
In the heart of my preaching, my books, when I hit the road as a missionary trying to draw people into a closer relationship with Jesus, my motto is, «Touching lives, saving souls». That’s exactly what Jesus was all about. He was always touching lives and saving souls. At mass, we celebrate the fact that Jesus died for us on a cross. That’s what a mass is. At prayer at mass, we always pray in the name of Jesus. When we celebrate sacraments, for example, could be matrimony, sacrament of the sick, through a touch of Christ, telling us that Jesus journeys with us in our sickness, comforts us, helps us in your marriages, ordination, eucharist. So, the sacraments are all about Jesus. The bottom line is, is that we have a destiny. We have a purpose on Earth. We have meaning. And our destiny, our purpose is eternal life with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit in heaven. It’s not real complicated, it’s not rocket science. It’s all about Jesus.
On my television programs, I try to depict and portray Jesus in a very appealing way because he was very charismatic and he was very appealing. We just saw that, «Godspell» 2,000 years later. I could see it. Hopefully you’ll see it from my programs. I remember the story about a priest. He was on an airplane one time, he told me the story. He was sitting next to a woman, she knew he was a priest, and she said this, she said, «All the church gave me was a plastic Jesus, and I left the Catholic Church and became a non-denominational». And the priest said, «Well, that’s sad that that’s all you perceive because the church exists to give you a relationship with Jesus».
And if you go to the non-denominational church, yeah, you can find them there, but the fullness of truth is in the Catholic Church, I believe, as a Catholic priest. And yes, you can find Jesus here. Jesus is more than a statue, he’s more than something plastic, he’s more than an icon or a painting. Jesus is real and risen and yes, very much alive in the church. I try to portray Jesus in my TV programs in a very special way. As you know, we use a lot of media images. There’s an artist, his name is Joseph Fanelli, he lives in New York on Long Island. He’s given me permission to use a very attractive image of Jesus that I like to use. Jesus is white, almost Hollywood looking. Attractive, we’re putting it on the program now. I hope it attracts you to his sacred heart. Jesus draws people to himself. Multitudes from Galilee, Judea, Tyre, Sidon, all around the holy land came to listen to him, to see him, and of course, he touched people, brought healing to 'em, very charismatic.
But I studied in the holy land, studied in Israel. And I could see it, the Israelis and especially the Palestinians, they’re dark skinned. Jesus would have been not so much Hollywood looking, he would have been good looking, but dark skinned. My message is this, although I portray him in a very white manner, that Jesus meets us right where we’re at, just as we are. If you’re white, Jesus comes to you that way. If you’re African American, Jesus comes to you with dark skin. If you’re Hispanic or Filipino, Jesus comes to you that way. And he also speaks our language. Speaks in a very poetic way. Of course, parables and stories, but he speaks in our vernacular, which means in English, in Spanish, Tagalog, whatever you are Jesus comes to you just as you are in a very personal, real and intimate way.
The bottom line is that, he reaches out to every person on earth. As I said, 8.2 billion, not million, billion. And yet somehow some way, he’s able to come to each one of us just as we are, in a way that makes sense. The church is about proclaiming Jesus. And that was the message of the early church. There’s a Greek word for this, it’s called the kerygma of the early church. The kerygma was Jesus. And there were many martyrs that died, of course, the early apostles, they all died for Jesus to get this message out, because Jesus is so important and so valuable. What’s at stake here? Life and death. Jesus came to deliver us from death and bring us to eternal life.
What is eternal life? How do we picture that? Picture all the grains of sand on the seashore. Each grain of sand, there’s zillions of them, represent a hundred years. That’s what eternal life is like, and then when you get to the end of it, it begins all over again. Or you look up at the stars. Astronomers tell us that there are trillions of galaxies. This to me, this expanse is eternal life in image form. That’s what Jesus came to bring us, a life that never ends. And our life now on earth is so vitally important because it determines heaven or hell, death or life, wow! He came to bring us eternal life.
I wrote a book called, «Let Jesus In». I want to offer it to you free of charge. Just simply go to my website, you can download it there. Call 844-FATHERC, we’ll get you that booklet free of charge. I want you to receive that booklet. I want you to let Jesus in. I want you to have eternal life. And of course, Jesus wants that for you also. And then once you have some type of a meeting, an encounter with Jesus, and again, that’s what the gospels are all about. Some type of a happening, a touch, a moment, if you will. Call it an encounter. It’s revolutionizing, as you can see, I was never even an altar boy growing up. I fell away from the church.
Now, I’ve been a religious for 40 years. And I’ve been a priest for 34 years. This is what Jesus does, he takes you from what you were and brings you to what you can be. I have a saying in my ministry that who you are is God’s gift to you, but who you become is your gift to God. That’s what Jesus studied. He transforms us, changes us. Your prayer life changes because there’s something real now, something very personal. You are being invited to that. And then once you encounter them, everything changes. Once they met Jesus, notice, they went from fishermen to fishers of men and women, wow! I had no idea I was ever gonna become a priest.
As I told you, I was never even an altar boy. I had no desire to preach. I’ve told you in other episodes that I suffer from panic attacks. I was so scared. I had trouble getting through high school, trouble getting through college because I was always afraid everybody was gonna be looking at me and it was awful for me. I didn’t know if I would ever make it through my education. I had no desire to be a priest, no desire to preach, and certainly no desire to be on television or radio preaching, but when Jesus comes, what a difference Jesus makes in our life, wow! Transformation, makes you face your fears, you reach for the stars, you dream dreams, you become a different person.
Paul the apostle said, «Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel». He said, «I’m impelled, I’m compelled to do this,» because it’s such a treasure, you want everybody to know. Back in the Old Testament, Jeremiah said, «It’s like a fire shut up in my bones, I have to let it loose». He said, «I wanna hold it in, but I can’t». And that’s the way I was, once I was touched, I knew it was all over but the shouting because I had to start telling people about Jesus. That’s exactly why the church exists. The nature of the Catholic Church is missionary. Once Jesus tells you, you become a missionary. Now, I’m not telling you that you beat people over the head with the Bible. I think that if you can show 'em some joy, people will come up to you and say, «Why are you happy»? And you talk to them a little bit about your faith.
That’s really a way to do it. I studied in Israel. We went to Egypt, spent some time in Egypt, went down to the pyramids, to the Aswan Dam. When we would get off the bus, it’s interesting. All the children would come, very poor, and they’d run up to the bus because they knew we were westerners. They’d run up to the bus with their hands open, and this is what they said, «Baksheesh! Baksheesh»! And that was, I guess, an Aramaic word for, «Share the wealth! Share the wealth»! And we would always give 'em pens. For some reason they wanted pens. Well, that’s exactly what the world is doing right now, they’re saying, «Baksheesh! Baksheesh! Share the wealth».
And what wealth we have in Jesus. You’ll notice that I did something very radical. I became a Catholic priest and a religious. I go like this, this is my religious habit. I have professed a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. I wanted to be a credible witness. For example, on television when I invite you to donate and thank you to my donors, thank you to my partners, that’s how I can reach out on these networks and these different stations on radio and proclaim the gospel 'cause it’s expensive. But I wanted people to know that as a priest with a vow of poverty, I’m using your money not for myself, I live in a community. Yes, I have a car, yes, we eat, yes, I have a room, but none of it is mine. It’s all shared in common. Any monies that you donate goes to the ministry. Because I’m not in it for your money, I’m in it for your soul. I am a shepherd of your soul.
I remember it was Cardinal O’Connor, the Cardinal of New York who said, «The dazzling value of one soul,» your soul has infinite dazzling value to God. And as a Catholic priest, as a shepherd of your soul, I’m not after your money. Thank you to those who donate. I pray for you all the time, I love you, I’m so grateful. I’m not after your money, I’m after your soul. I want you to have eternal life. That’s what the gospel’s are all about. This is the treasure, eternal life, not just the life that we have here on earth. In the glory, the comfort, the wealth that heaven is gonna be, wow! Do not miss it. What’s at stake? Eternal life, heaven and hell, that’s the gospel, it’s life and death. And you must know that we are all heading somewhere.
When I say all of us I mean everybody on the face of the earth. We’re heading toward the great judgment. It’s exactly what Jesus taught, what Christianity teaches, you must know this and you must be ready. That’s exactly what I’m trying to help you to do. This is an important message, folks, vitally important, significant, life-changing, revolutionizing. This is how Christianity spread all throughout the world. This is why people gave their lives for Jesus, martyrs for Jesus, people who become ministers, people who are serving others.
This message, it’s the core of the gospels. It’s Jesus and eternal life. I’m trying to make it very simple, very clear. I have a mission statement in my ministry. I’m dedicated to reach out, stop right there. I’m dedicated to reach out as a Catholic priest, that’s why I became a priest. To as many people as possible, that’s media. In as deep a way as possible, that’s why I write books, and DVDs, and CDs so that you can be learning and growing in your faith. With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that’s what I’m all about, that’s why I have partners, and people who donate, and buy my books, 'cause they realize that there’s no false motives here.
I’ve looked at all that before long and I’ve been sifted, I’ve been tried, I’ve been judged, all that, I judge myself. It’s all clear and fine. I’m not going anywhere. Catholic priests, religious community, vow of poverty. I’m not after your money, not after anything like that. I’m after you. Make a surrender to Jesus. I know, most of you are already going to church, rededicate your life to Christ. And for those of you who aren’t going to church, simply make a move. He’s reaching out to you. That’s the core of the gospel, he reaches out to the marginalized, he reaches out to those on the outcast. Touched my life, changed my life. Jesus is calling you just like Peter and Andrew, James and John, «Come, follow me». Don’t just live, live with passion.