Cedric Pisegna - Think Big, Believe Big, Receive Big (01/24/2026)
Welcome to «Live with „Passion, I’m so glad that you invited me into your home. I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, the host, and I wanna proclaim to you the letter to the Ephesians chapter 2. This is a very famous reading, „For by grace you have been saved through faith, it’s not your own doing, it’s the gift of God. Not because of works, lest anyone should boast, for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them“. This series is all about being lifted up. I’ve talked about being lifted up in our prayer life, talked about how God lifts us up when it comes to our mind. God will lift us out of adversities at times.
Now, I want to talk about being lifted up in goals and visions. I want you to realize your destiny, I want you to become the best that you can be, and I want God to work through in a powerful way. Don’t be thinking, I’m too old now, I’m sedentary, it’s over for me. Abraham thought that, Noah thought that, Moses thought that, but God uses older people. Your best days aren’t behind you, some of your best days are in front of you. Just have to develop a vision for your life, a goal for your life, and really, if you think big, if you believe big, you will receive big because we serve a big God. And I want you to have a goal, a vision for your life. That’s very, very important.
Says in the book of Proverbs, this is Proverbs 29:18, „Without a vision people perish“. And then I’ll add, with a vision people are fruitful, and being fruitful is what the Bible is all about. In fact, Jesus pushed people to be their best. Remember they were fishing one time, the disciples, and they hadn’t caught anything, and they were discouraged and kinda downcast, they had given up for the evening, and Jesus pushed them a little bit, and he said, „Cast your net over on the other side of the boat“. And they did, and they caught so many fish they could barely haul it in. Think about those words, abundance and overflow, more than enough. There’s a blessing with Jesus. We heard it in the reading, „For grace we have been saved through faith, not our own doing, it’s the work of God. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works“.
There’s an abundance, there is a grace, there’s a blessing, an overflow that’s in Jesus. Right now religious life is going through a bit of adversity. Religious life, I talk about the Passionist community and Jesuits and Dominicans and Franciscans, we are religious communities within the Catholic Church. And there is a vocation crisis, not in every religious community, but in many religious communities pretty much across the board here in the first world country here in the United States. We’ve had to look at that, we can’t deny it, there’s been diminishment in religious life. Our particular community, the Passionists, we have been gathering together for years now doing something called visioning, looking toward the future.
And instead of lamenting the past and what’s not happening, we’ve been very positive about the future, realizing that God lavishes us with blessings, and he wants to work in us and through us. And as we vision, we have developed a way to empower laity. Laity are joining with us, it’s not just vowed and priests anymore. We have many laity, and we’re empowering them to reach out and to minister. And together, we are impacting our culture and our world as a Passionist community, proclaiming the gospel, and I want you to vision, I want you to have a goal in your life.
So many people just kinda go through life without goals, but when you have goals and visions, that’s when you become fruitful. And you can’t just let the wind blow you or the the river take you downstream, you have to have a rudder for your ship, and you have to go forward. All things are possible for God, I underlined that, I love that, I hold that deep in my heart, and when I say all things are possible for God, yes, when it comes to our destiny and achieving our potential, yes. But also in our prayer life, all things are possible for God. Just because you might feel stuck and things haven’t been moving forward doesn’t mean they won’t. Because all things are possible for God.
Remember Pentecost, suddenly Pentecost happened and everything changed. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit was poured upon them, and then also in your own life when it comes to change, maybe you need to write a book, start a new business, become a poet, draw some portraits, have a sculpture. I want to push you to dream. Throughout the Bible, dreams and visions, that’s the vision of Pentecost. Joseph was a dreamer. And it’s the spirit that comes and gives us these dreams. I have a dream, Martin Luther King had a dream, politicians have dreams for better, priests have dreams for their people. Have a dream for your life, how can you have meaning and be fulfilled unless you have a dream and you pursue it? A vision for your life.
I have a mission statement for my ministry Father Cedric Ministries, I want to reach out to as many people as possible. Media helps me to do that. I travel a lot doing preaching and writing. I want to reach out to as many as possible, not just for my own welfare or good, but because the gospel is life changing and brings eternal life. And I want everybody to have the opportunity to go to Heaven and live forever, become the best that they can be, be pleasing to God, bearing fruit. I want to reach out to as many people… that’s kind of an audacious goal, isn’t it? But God put that in my heart, I never used to have a goal, but when the Holy Spirit came, by grace we were saved, it’s a gift of God, we didn’t do it ourself, when the Holy Spirit came, wow, I started dreaming. And it’s happening, I’m reaching out to a lot of people through media, through television, radio, personal appearances, and it’s audacious, because we serve a big God, and I don’t mean big this way, but I mean big in power.
God is almighty, he is able. Love what it says in Ephesians a little bit after this, Ephesians 3:20: „God is able to do far more than we can ever dare to ask think or imagine,“ don’t you just love that? All your goals may not be accomplished, you may not get exactly what you’re hoping for, but I have a saying, reach for the stars, and at least you’ll get the moon. I believe it honors God when you have big dreams. Because what you’re saying that God is, you’re saying, I believe in you. All things are possible for you, Father. I believe in your greatness, I believe in your power, and I believe that you love me. It honors God when you have big dreams, and conversely I think it kind of disappoints God when you don’t have a dream for your life, or you don’t have a vision for your life. Pray to the Holy Spirit to put that in you.
When I was a young priest I was driving down the road, I see a billboard, and it said, „Expand Your Influence“. I get home, and that billboard stuck in my mind. Expand your influence, and I just kept thinking about it, I go to bed and think about it, get up in the morning, expand your influence. And I finally came to realize, you know, the voice of God comes in many different ways, but through a billboard? It came through a donkey in the Old Testament, I guess it can come through a billboard. And I realized that, you know, God was actually honoring me with that. God was saying, Cedric, what you’re preaching, personal relationship with God, salvation, being born again, being on the road to heaven, developing your potential, becoming the best that you can be. God was honoring me and saying, Cedric, I want that told to everybody, expand your influence. And that became a mantra for me. I didn’t so much speak it out of my mouth as I pursued it. I realized that this is a goal that I want to go after.
I remember as I was growing, as I was expanding, started writing books, and looking at television, and looking at radio, I hear about this prayer of Jabez, you’ve probably heard of this, „Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and expand my territory“. And God did bless him and expanded his territory. Am I saying, is this a prosperity Gospel? If you pray to be big and get a lot of money, that you’re going to get it? Maybe so, if it’s God’s will for your life, but at least give God a chance, open the windows of heaven, God says, „I will open the windows of heaven,“ he says, „Try me,“ this is the prophet Malachi, „And I will open the windows of heaven and bless you“. Jesus said, „There will be overflow in your life, good measure poured into your lap overflowing“.
And I love that scene in the gospel when they catch the fish, there’s so many it’s tearing their nets, and they would find out that with Jesus of Nazareth, there was a blessing. I’m a Catholic priest, I bless people, and I bless you who are watching my program. Not with my own blessing, the blessing of God that comes through Jesus. And that blessing is this induement, it is power. As you’re watching this program right now, may Almighty God bless you, help you to develop, become all that you can be, grow in your moral life, deepen your prayer life, expand your territory, be your best, lift you up. That’s the name of this series, „Be Lifted Up,“ and watch what happens.
I believe that the blessing of God is on you because you’re watching this, and because he loves you. By grace you are saved, and God created you, it said, you are his workmanship, one of the translations says, you’re his work of art. God is a great sculptor, and God’s sculpted you for good works. God created us to have goals and visions and to do good works, to make a difference, to add value to people. When I grew up I didn’t have goals and I didn’t have a vision, 'cause I told you, when the Holy Spirit touched me, wow, that all came into me, and I realized that I’m going to go beyond my fears and beyond my shyness, that I’m gonna reach out and make a difference, and I’m so glad I did, because it’s the joy of my heart to come to you and to help you, to lift you up; bottom line is, is God is generous, God is big, God is able, we serve a mighty God. God’s Grace is there, but you gotta take the initiative and you have to work at it.
That’s really important. I think it was attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, he said, „Do the possible, and God will do the impossible“. Have a goal for your life, a vision for your life and pursue it. Take the initiative, we serve a big God. Now in order to realize your dreams, you’ve gotta work, as I said, most times, we have excuses. I remember in the beginning I was thinking, I’m doing enough, I’m going out, I’m preaching, I’m traveling, how can I get on television? How can I do radio? That’s a lot of work, how am I ever gonna do, there’s so many excuses. It’s the same in our life, well, you know, life’s hard, I’m suffering, it’s hard to reach out, it’s hard to do this, hard to do that, there’s always excuses.
I read this book, really touched my life, by a man named John Foppe, and he wrote a book called, „What’s Your Excuse“? The interesting thing about John Foppe is he was born without arms, and it was all about the obstacles of life, the adversities of life, how he had to learn how to dress himself without arms, how to eat without arms. Now, he’s motivational speaker, and he’s very successful now. Written books, as I said, sought after speaker, and this is what he said, he said, „Our only handicap is the mental and emotional ones that prevent us from participating fully in life“. What’s preventing you from participating fully in life? What thoughts or what mindsets, what attitudes? What’s your excuse?
I want you to dream big and have big goals and a wonderful vision, but you can’t let excuses keep you from developing and growing. Jesus taught about excuses in the gospel. The kingdom of heaven was presented to people, they were all invited, but they all had excuses, and they ended up not coming, and the ones that weren’t invited in the first place were the ones that got to come to the banquet because of all these excuses. And it’s easy to have excuses, but don’t let them stop you. I’m trying to push through my excuses, and I think about some of the great people in life that have motivated me. This is all about being lifted up, I want to help you to be lifted up to a bigger goal, bigger vision, and I want you to achieve it. With God’s help, all things are possible.
I come from Springfield, Massachusetts, that’s where I was born. Springfield has the designation as a Basketball Hall of Fame. And there’s been a lot of people inducted, but one induction ceremony that I saw on television. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player that ever lived. Air Jordan, defied gravity. Talk about being lifted up. And there was a packed crowd there, and he talked about what happened in his life. I don’t know if you know this, but he was actually cut from his high school basketball team, and he said that that made him try harder. He had naysayers and challenges as he progressed in his basketball career, and that lit a fire in him to prove them wrong and for him to excel.
And I love his speech, because he’s talking about the obstacles as being opportunities. Instead of obstacles and hardships giving you an excuse not to go on, he got a fire in him that lit an enthusiasm, that’s what Christianity brings, this enthusiasm for life. There is power in following Jesus. I love what Jesus said, he said, „Behold, I give you power“. And I want to become all that I can be, I want to achieve my destiny. I could easily be sitting in my office at home, living my little life, my little priesthood, but I decided to be daring, to be bold, because the spirit that God has put into us is ferocious and very courageous. Michael Jordan ended his speech very beautifully, he concluded, „You might see me playing when I’m 50 years old,“ he said, „don’t laugh,“ and then here’s the line I want to share with you, he said, „Limits, like fear, are just an illusion“.
My dad has inspired me, talk about people that lift me up. My dad was in the Second World War in the Navy, healthy young man. They were working on, he was on a ship, they were working on something and a piece of metal flew out, hit him right in his left eye, blinded him, got an honorable discharge from the Navy. He became a carpenter with one eye. Most people can’t do it with two, but he did it with one. He never complained about that disability, not really even a disability, an other ability. His challenge made him a champion. And, I know, I used to work with him, he wasn’t just a carpenter, he was a master craftsman, and he did it with one eye, and as I watched that, he never talked about it, never complained, but I saw, and that made such an impression on me. He gave me a work ethic, and he told me, „Cedric,“ he told me by his deeds, „don’t let your challenges stop you“.
Don’t let your obstacle stop you. Rise above. He lifted up. And I’m hoping that I’ll be a person in your life to help lift you up, to motivate you to go further in your life, to go further, faster. People lift me up, my dad, sports people, as I told you, certainly Jesus people in the Bible. I think about my eighth grade teacher, he was my eighth grade English teacher, I really didn’t do all that well in English. But, my eighth grade teacher saw something in me, his name was Mr. Sybillia, I’ll never forget him, because one day he came over to me with a book, he didn’t give it to anybody else, he gave it just to me. And he looked me in the eye, gave me the book, and he smiled, and he walked away.
And I read the title of the book, it was Charles Dickens’s „Great Expectations“. And I thought, you know, he sees something in me, I don’t see it, but he sees it, 'cause he didn’t give it to anybody else. Just doing something like that can lift people up. And you can make a difference in the people that you rub elbows with. Complimenting them, encouraging them, being kind to them. You are his workmanship, his work of art to do great things. For the good deeds by grace you have been saved, that’s wonderful, but he wants to work in you and through you. And then I think about a woman that I met up in Canada, and I was giving a mission in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was a musician.
After the mission, I get this book in the mail by Dr. Seuss, and the book said „Oh, The Places That You’ll Go“. And it’s all about, they give it to graduates oftentimes, it’s all about encouraging you, and saying that there’s something special in you, that was so beautiful of her to do that. And in the book it says, „Will you succeed“? It says „Yes! You will indeed! Ninety eight and three quarter percent guaranteed“.
And the symbol of the book, of that book, was a hot air balloon rising and a person riding in it, smiling, being lifted up, she lifted me up. And we can encourage people to lift them up, and have that goal to help others. I think about my partners, TV and radio is so expensive, the production of programs and the airing of programs, tens of thousands of dollars. My partners, those that donate, they encourage me, and they lift me up. My viewers, those who buy my resources, lift me up. I see every purchase, every donation, and I pray for my partners every day, and they lift me up. You can make a difference when you encourage people and help others. Do you have a goal for your life, a vision? I want to help lift you up and push you.
That’s what Jesus was doing at the Sea of Galilee, he was pushing Peter and the other disciples to launch out into the deep for a catch, to have that vision, that goal, to become all that they could be. And really, the key to success is believing big, thinking big, receiving big, because we serve a big God.
Really quickly, let me end with this story. I was in Belle Harbor, New York, that’s right outside New York City, I think it’s in the Brooklyn area, Queens, and I was preaching there, and a young man came up to me after I preached, and he said, „Father Cedric, I’ve been watching you on TV, I just got out of prison,“ rolled up his sleeve, big tattoo, and on his arm was a tattoo, not born to lose, but the title of one of my books, „Challenges Make Champions“. And he shook my hand, and he said I want to thank you for proclaiming the truth in my life, and I want to tell you, your challenges can make you a champion. Dream dreams, see visions, think big, believe big, and you will receive big, because we serve a big God. Don’t just live, live with passion.