Cedric Pisegna - A Time of Conversion
I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, we are in the first week of Lent. Whether you’re Catholic or non-Catholic, it’s a season of grace, and expect blessings. I want to proclaim to you from the Gospel of Mark, and this comes from chapter 1. «The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. And Jesus remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan, He was among wild beasts; and angels ministered to Him. After John the Baptist had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 'This is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel, '» the gospel of the Lord. Everybody wants to have a significant, life-changing Lent, and I wanna help you with that. I’m praying that this, as you watch this program, the first week of Lent, that this is gonna be your best Lent ever, significant, life-changing. You can have a new relationship with God, a deeper relationship, and you can change.
I read something in the paper that I felt was very significant and it’s about what people do in the morning when they first get up. And it said in the article that most people, when they get up in the morning, the first thing that they do is they go over to their iPhone and they check their emails or they check the weather or check other things. Oftentimes what we do is we’re saturated by our culture and our society, and communication and technology, and as soon as we get up, we’re into that.
Well, I discovered in my own life that I can participate in that too, and what Lent is all about is about getting deeper, it’s about going from the superficial to the supernatural. We gotta go beyond the superficial, we gotta go deeper than just technology and communication and our culture and our society and the news. Because I was doing that too, and God challenged me, «Cedric, seek me first and seek my presence, not all that stuff, and get deeper».
The first thing I want to say about Lent is spend time with God right in the beginning, don’t let all the other stuff keep you up on the surface. You’ll find that if you don’t saturate your mind with all the stuff, with all the things, you’ll find that your relationship with God will grow. You see, Lent is all about conversion. And you might be thinking, «Well, wait a minute, Father Cedric, I go to church, what are you talking about, 'Be converted'»? I’m not talking about, «Be converted to a church,» I’m talking about your ongoing progressive journey with your relationship with God, that’s what the word conversion means, to go forward, to change.
Lent is a two-fold purpose. Number one, it’s purification. When I talk about purification, that means we’re purified when we change, when we are made holy, when we avoid sin. We heard the reading talking about repentance and turning away from temptation, that’s purification. And the second part of Lent, just as important, probably more important, enlightenment. And when I talk about enlightenment, yeah, wisdom and knowledge and understanding, that’s to be enlightened, but especially to be illumined with the presence of God. Two-fold purpose, really simple, Lent is not complicated, purification and enlightenment, personal change, growth in your relationship with God, and that’s what I’m hoping for you more than anything else. It’s a time of conversion.
In a way, Lent is like this worldwide intervention by God. You know what an intervention is? In the 12-step program, they have interventions when one of your family members is maybe drinking and they’re not accepting the fact that they’ve got an addiction, so the family has to sit them down and have an intervention. God is having an intervention through the season of Lent and he’s calling out to us to avoid temptation, he’s calling out to us for a deeper relationship, he’s calling out to us for purification and enlightenment.
So take it for what it is, an intervention, and everybody is included whether you’re Catholic or non-Catholic, because I realize that my program goes out to non-Catholics as well. And just because you’re not a Catholic doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate Lent with us, it’s a worldwide phenomenon, it’s for everybody, and it’s very simple, it’s purification and enlightenment, and that’s what we all want. The goal of Lent, as I said, is very simple, and it all begins on Ash Wednesday. I read to you the reading from the first Sunday of Lent, but Ash Wednesday, again, if you’re not Catholic, you’re familiar with it, it’s this time where people come forward, they wanna make a move with God, so people in great numbers come to church and they get ashed.
Ashes, in the Bible, are a symbol of mortality, of the future death of repentance. And they’re ashed with the sign of the cross, the cross, the sign of death and sacrifice and mortality once again. I was a seminarian in Chicago, and I served at a church called «Saint Peter’s in the Loop,» it was a shrine church in Downtown Chicago. And on Ash Wednesday, everybody would come, business people, bag ladies, lawyers, everybody would come to church, it would seem. In fact, so many people would come, they would actually stand outside the church, go around the block, all the way around the church. And we would be five ministers down in the basement and the lines would come down, and one after another, we would say, «Remember, man, remember, woman, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return».
Or the other formula is, as we ash you, «Repent, and believe in the gospel». That comes right from the Scriptures. We remind people of their mortality, we remind people that they’re gonna die, we remind people about repentance, it’s a worldwide intervention. And I was struck by how many people come on Ash Wednesday, and that’s just it, when Lent begins, everybody’s gung ho and very enthusiastic about Lent. «Yeah, this is gonna be the year that I’m gonna change, and I’m going to church and I’m gonna make a move».
And that’s great, I want you to be motivated. In fact, our mortality, that’s what the church is telling us, is a motivation, one of the motivations, along with guilt and God’s love, and wanting to do the will of God. There’s so many motivations, but quite frankly, one of them is our own mortality, and the church is reminding us, «Remember that you’re gonna die». That’s exactly what Saint Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism, said, «Keep your own death before you every day». Then Psalm 90 tells us, «Teach us to number our days, that we may gain wisdom of heart».
So the church is inviting us to reflect upon our own death. Now, everybody, it seems, at the beginning of Lent is gung ho, and they wanna get with it and they wanna be with the program and everything. Then, I’ve noticed as a preacher, that by the fourth or fifth Sunday of Lent, attendance has waned, not everybody’s going to church anymore. We have to realize that Lent is a season of 40 days, we are in it for the long haul. Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, he had perseverance. I remember God told me one time, «Cedric, I’m not interested in your perfection, per se, I’m interested in your progression».
It’s a journey. Instinctively, we know that we can change, and instinctively, we know that we can deepen our relationship with God. I’ve already given you one practical example, when you get up in the morning, what’s the first thing that you reach for? Is it God or is it your phone? Each year, we hear about the temptations of Jesus, whether it be Matthew, or Luke especially, Gospel of Mark simply tells us that Jesus was tempted by the devil. And what Lent is trying to teach us, what our church is trying to teach us in Lent is to get back to the basics, because sometimes we forget the fact that the devil is real, pardon me for raising my voice a little bit, because oftentimes we don’t realize that.
And the first thing our church is telling us in Lent is that the devil’s real, he tempted Jesus, he tempts you and me, and we have to understand that. Sometimes I think we think from our culture that the devil is some kind of a cartoon figure with a red suit and a pitchfork, and horns on his head, and we kind of laugh about it and everything. Remember Flip Wilson, «The devil made me do it,» that whole thing? I went to a play one time, it was by C. S. Lewis, who wrote «The Screwtape Letters». It was about Satan, and his name was Screwtape, this head demon, and he was trying to teach the lesser demons how to tempt people, it was an interesting play. And he was giving them lessons about how to tempt people away from God, and one of the main temptations was to try to convince people that Satan wasn’t real.
And he’s doing a good job because our culture laughs about the devil, they don’t think he’s real at all, and the devil’s reeling people in because they don’t think he’s real. That’s one of the greatest temptations. And then, of course, he tempts you to think that you can’t change, where Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark chapter 1, you can change. The word is «repent,» and Jesus wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t mean it, if it wasn’t possible. Then another temptation, of course, the devil is always trying us to give up and to doubt God, that God’s not working in your life. Remember what I said about people going to church during Lent, everybody’s gung ho in the beginning, then all of a sudden the crowds begin to wane because nothing seems to be happening.
Well, things are happening, be patient, give God time, it’s a season of grace. Jesus didn’t spend one week in the desert, 40 days, imagine that. Yes, it’s symbolic for the 40 years of wandering in the desert, it’s symbolic for the time that Moses spent up on the mountaintop. Yes, I get that, but 40 days and 40 nights, and yes, he was hungry, and yes, we’re hungry too, hungry for God. Change is possible, the kingdom is at hand, and we can change our thinking, we can change our behaviors, and everybody wants to change. Well, the first step, remember what I told you, I’m gonna try to get real practical, you wanna have your best Lent ever. The first step in change, we’re talking about purification.
Remember Lent is purification and enlightenment, the first step in purification, identify your issues. Where do you need to change? If you’re in denial, remember this is an intervention here, for people that are in denial. Is it lust, is it gossip, is it negative thinking? On my Facebook page, people always, inevitably, at the first Sunday of Lent or Ash Wednesday, «I’m gonna give up chocolate,» or «I’m gonna give up drinking,» or «I’m gonna give up this». It mostly has to do with food, what about giving up negativity, what about giving up gossip, what about giving up being mean to people? And let me shift this, I’m trying to be practical, I wanna shift it away from just being me-oriented, most people think that that’s what Lent is all about, to people-oriented. We must understand that Lent is about relationships with other people.
If you want to have your best Lent ever, try killing people with kindness, try being kind to one another, give up resentment and non-forgiveness. I know it’s hard to do, but it’s a 40-day season, God will help you through the Holy Spirit as he helped Jesus through the Holy Spirit. I wanna make this practical by talking about people, your relationships at home, and then wider relationships. Part of Lent is becoming generous, pillars of Lent, prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Talk about almsgiving here for a second. You take the stinginess and the selfishness, and that can be stretched by generosity. And how do you do that? By almsgiving, by giving to people, by giving to worthy causes, but more than that, giving yourself to people. And what do I mean by that? Trying to be practical here.
Talking about, I remember I went to a church one time, they had a Saint Vincent de Paul society, anything having to do with Saint Vincent de Paul, who had a heart for the poor, is excellent. They had a thrift store at their church totally run by volunteers. Try getting involved in your church reaching out to the poor, you don’t have to give a week of your time, just once a week. Those Goodwill stores are mostly run by volunteers. You can give time, that’s the repentance, I believe, that God is really looking for. First week of Lent we hear about the great Last Judgment, and Jesus says that all nations will come before him and there’s gonna be a great divide, great separation, and it all has to do with how you treated people.
That’s why Lent is getting back to basics. So, first thing you gotta do: identify your areas. Are you angry, is there lust, are you holding a grudge, are you negative? Well, try not so much fasting from chocolate or alcohol, but if you’re doing that, that’s good too because it leads to self-control and we want that, that’s part of purification. But most of all, try fasting from gossip, negativity, being mad all the time, and especially try reaching out, especially with the people that you’re living with. Kindness, respect, this is what God wants more than anything. He will help you in the other areas if you can be kind to people and be loving with people. I’ve been studying this, I wrote a book on Lent, this is what Lent is all about, it’s about people and it’s about purification. Second of all, change takes time, as I said. If you’re angry, if you’ve been gossipy, remember it’s progression, not perfection.
Now, we progress toward perfection, that’s what the word perfection means. It’s téleios, it means you see a goal and you strive for it, it’s moving toward what you wanna be, who you wanna be. But please understand there’s no microwave maturity, it doesn’t just happen the first week of Lent. There might be some kind of a significant change, oftentimes there can be kind of a leap, but most of the time, folks, it’s incremental, step by step, little by little. Be patient with yourself, give yourself time, perhaps you won’t be as angry, perhaps you won’t gossip as much, it’s incremental, there will be less intense feelings when it comes to lust. You put yourself before God.
So that’s the second thing I wanted to say, is give yourself some time, things take time sometimes. And then the third step I want to tell you about. Remember, first step is identify the areas, give yourself some time, Lent is a season, 40 days plus the Sundays, it’s actually more than 40 days, and then be motivated. I already told you that the church is trying to motivate us through getting in touch with our own mortality, Ash Wednesday, ashes, the sign of mortality, ashes, many people are getting cremated nowadays, ashes in the sign of the cross, Jesus giving his life on the cross. Get in touch with motivation, motivation is so important, this is why people fall away after the first week, because they’re not motivated, they’re motivated to get ashes, they’re motivated to come back to church for a little while, but Lent and Christianity is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
Have you figured that out yet? It takes time, and that doesn’t mean that anything’s wrong with you, but as a whole, in our society, as a people, we are not patient, we want it now. That’s why Amazon Prime is doing so well, because you will get your package the next day sometimes, maybe the day that you order it, if not two days. And we’re not used to waiting, we don’t like that, but waiting is part of the whole thing, that’s part of our purification process. Motivation is key. I go to a fitness center sometimes and I’ll see the fitness trainer trying to motivate the person, «You can do it, you can do your reps». They have signs everywhere, «You can do it,» and «You gotta have backbone, not just wishbone,» and there’s a pulsating music and TV screens everywhere. What are they doing? Well, the fitness center is trying to motivate you to stick with it because it’s hard. Lent is hard, it’s difficult, it involves suffering and penance, and I understand that. And in order to do it, you gotta be motivated. And what is the prime motivation? Death is one of the motivations, guilt is another motivation, but your prime motivation has to be your love for God.
«Father, your will be done,» and I mean, that’s not fading. If you love God and you wanna do God’s will, you will be motivated to be enlightened and to be purified, and that’s what I want for you. Our church gives us some keys to help us with Lent. The Bible, very important, we always have crucial Scripture readings all of Lent, some of the best-of. Books, there are many books about Lent, I wrote one called «Your Best Lent Ever» and it will help you, give you practical ideas. Motivational talks, that’s what I’m hoping to do right here through my TV program, to help motivate you. The sacraments, as you receive Communion, as you go to confession, as you’re anointed if you’re sick, the sacraments energize us to keep us motivated and to keep us seeking God.
Don’t give up. I’m sure Jesus was tempted during his 40 days in the desert to say, «This is enough, I give up, I’m leaving,» but he stayed with it, he was patient, he persevered, he endured, and Lent is a season of 40 days of grace. Let’s talk about this whole thing about enlightenment. Remember what I told you, real simple, purification, personal change, and enlightenment. What is Jesus doing in the desert? Well, I can tell you this, he was praying, he was communing with God. I’ve been to the desert, there’s the Mount of Temptation there in Israel, in the Judean desert. There were no cell towers, no airplanes, no traffic, it was amazingly quiet. Well, what was Jesus doing there? He wasn’t playing with the iPhone or watching television or reading the newspaper or doing all the things that we do in our culture, he was transcending, instead of being superficial, he was going to the supernatural.
And you might be thinking, «Well, he was God, he was already supernatural». He was human too. I want to challenge you to spend five minutes a day. «Five minutes, that’s not very much, Father Cedric». Oh yeah? Try it, five minutes a day in silence, just five minutes. You know what’s gonna happen? First 30 seconds you’re gonna start to squirm and you’re gonna get distracted, but you know what? That’s okay, because God sees your heart, and I’m praying that eventually, as you spend a little bit of time in silence. hopefully first thing in the morning right after you get up, you’ll sense God touching you, enlightening you, illumining your heart, and your personal relationship with God will grow.
Lent is a season, don’t give up, it’s a season of purification, personal change, and enlightenment, and it’s all about personal change and growth, and reaching out to people, becoming generous, becoming loving, but most of all, it’s about your personal relationship with God. Spend time with the Scriptures, spend some time reading some good spiritual books, watching good television programs, and especially personal prayer. And as you do this, I believe as the season goes on, you will see significant personal change and developing your relationship with God in ways that you never have. Lent is a season of conversion, and conversion means moving toward God. It’s for Catholics and non-Catholics, and I am praying that the Holy Spirit that led Jesus into the desert will lead you into a deep relationship with God, sanctification, personal change. And may Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.