Fr. Cedric Pisegna Returns To Long Island To Preach

Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P., Passionist priest, preacher and television personality returned to Long Island to St. Aiden's parish in Williston Park, for a parish mission this week.  I attended the first night and Fr. Cedric was uplifting, upbeat and inspiring. He has a natural style, he's easy to listen to and he instills hope. What's better than that! Sadly,  he shared that his mother recently died (about 6 weeks ago) and he was still grieving. He's received a lot of condolences and support which he was grateful for.
It was an evening filled with good music and good preaching, with a few jokes thrown in.
His TV show, "Live With Passion," will have new episodes coming out and you can see his show on Telecare and other local stations. He's hoping that EWTN picks up his show as they are considering it.
His talk on Monday evening centered on overcoming obstacles. He said that challenges in life make champions. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ......"We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us!" He spoke about courageous people such as Helen Keller who overcame great obstacles and limitations and did great things because she persevered and kept going. He said, "Focus on what you can do, don't focus on what you can't do."
He mentioned Robin Roberts book which he recently read, "Everybody's Got Something." He quoted her, "Being optimistic is like a muscle, you have to use it, to strengthen it."
Fr. Cedric also said, "Live passionately, with enthusiasm and push on. Passion is energy, it's enthusiasm."
He himself is a product of his own positive thinking, his great faith in God and his openness to the urgings of the Holy Spirit. What he preached that night is what has worked in his own ministry and life and he keeps bearing great fruit for the Lord and the Church. And he's helping God's people as well.
NJA

Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P. Preacher-Like Style

I went to Cure of Ars Church in Merrick, LI for the past two evenings to hear Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P., speak during a Parish Mission.  I've also seen his program on Telecare-"Live With Passion." Fr. Cedric is an excellent speaker, he connects with the congregation or audience and has a preacher like style. He travels throughout the U.S. and Canada giving Parish Missions and if he comes to a parish near you, I suggest you go.
He has written 17 books and on Monday evening he sold over $2,000 worth of books. He said that he uses the money from the sale of his books to help his TV ministry. There was also a collection which was for his Passionist community and their works in Houston, Texas. Fr. Cedric has a likable personality and he tells some funny jokes.  He has a good message and some catchy phrases that are easy to remember such as -"Trust is a must," Doubt your doubts," and "We inherit the promise through faith and patience." He also spoke about the Divine Mercy and had us repeat a few times, "Jesus I trust in you." Such powerful words.
He also talks about believing in yourself, never giving up and about not giving up on your dreams.  He's like a Catholic priest version of Joel Osteen.
The adoration chapel in Cure of Ars is just beautiful and I spent sometime in the chapel admiring it's beauty and the peace within.
Fr. Cedric was signing books on Monday night and talking to participants and I went up to him and spoke for a few minutes. I suggested to him (as if he's not doing enough already!) that he should consider helping priests become better speakers and perhaps he should work with Fr. Robert Barron on an endeavor to help priests prepare more engaging homilies.
He said he had been thinking about it and I hope he does some work in the future with priests, I think it would be helpful to them. (It wasn't until the next day that I realized that St. John Vianney is the patron saint of priests, so perhaps he put me up to the suggestion!)
He will be returning to Long Island in a few months and I hope to go again to his parish mission. He's worth listening to.
NJA

"You have to endure. Don't give up on your dreams"  Fr. Cedric

UPDATE: Fr. Cedric sent a thank you note to the parish of Cure of Ars, which was published in their bulletin. I've taken the liberty to print some of it here. It said the following:
I want to thank all of you who attended the mission I preached.....On behalf of my Passionist community thank you for the $6,500 that was so generously donated to us.  Also you bought $10,000 worth of my resources....Thank you from the bottom of my heart." Fr. Cedric
(That is truly amazing and goes to show that when people's hearts are touched and they are given Christian truth with love and enthusiasm, they respond generously and appreciatively! )