- Communion -
pREACHING THE GOSPEL THROUGH rap MUSIC
His mission is to preach the Good News through a musical genre that is typically associated with spreading bad news. Communion, born Álvaro Vega, recognizes that rap music is a powerful art form in today's culture and utilizes it to bring the Gospel message to the youth. Raised in South Florida and born to Nicaraguan parents, Álvaro started making music at the age of 17 after hearing Eminem's debut album and being inspired by the rapper's lyrical dexterity and Dr. Dre's production. It wasn’t long before Álvaro discovered his talent for music and began scribbling his own rhymes and creating his own beats, crafting songs with less than Christian ideals and language. He dreamed of what all artists dream of: being rich and famous. But God had a different and much better plan.
In 2008, Vega’s life changed dramatically after having an encounter with God while reading random passages from The Imitation of Christ, a spiritual classic written by Thomas Kempis over 500 years ago. “What would it profit a man to gain the world but lose his soul?” Kempis' musings – which are the very words of Scripture re-packaged – hit Vega like a ton of bricks, as he realized how foolish he had been, chasing after the temporary things of the world while ignoring the care of his eternal soul. The words of Kempis brought Álvaro to surrender his life to Jesus Christ, a decision that brought him profound peace and forever changed the course of his life.
Álvaro describes his encounter with Christ as ‘falling in love with God’. His life made a complete 180 degree turn and he was healed miraculously of depression and stomach problems. Immediately he received a calling to drop everything – even music, his former love – to follow Jesus into seminary and to discern the calling to the priesthood. During his time in seminary, he continued rapping, but this time for Jesus, adopting the name ‘Communion’, and uploading his Catholic rap videos on YouTube after being encouraged to do so by the rector of the seminary. In late 2015, after five and a half years in formation, Álvaro left seminary, in order to continue discerning his vocation. Since then, Álvaro has earned his Master’s degree in theology and gone full-force into ministry, using all of his God-given gifts to evangelize and catechize the youth.
He performed at World Youth Day 2019 in Panama at the vigil with Pope Francis, as well as WYD 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. He currently raps and speaks at youth retreats, conferences, concerts, schools and parishes, sharing the faith through original songs from his first two albums, Creo en Dios and Expresiones Audibles de Nuestra Fe. His rap lyrics have an evangelistic bent – they preach the faith, teach catechesis, and incorporate bible verses. And his sound appeals to a much broader public than the average hip-hop listener, as his music offers a departure from the mainstream sound of typical noisy rap music. Rather, he builds on catchy, harmonious melodies, often juxtaposing angelic-sounding vocals on the chorus with his well-articulated raps. And in order to make his music accessible to as many people as possible, he composes songs not only in English, but also translates them to Spanish. His music videos, produced by his brother C. M. de la Vega, offer dynamic visuals to accompany his faith rhymes. Communion’s first music video, “Creo en Dios”, has enjoyed wonderful success, garnering over 3 million hits on YouTube, and “I Believe” has over 2 million hits; but while such success is encouraging, numbers and followers are not what he is seeking— his true motive for rapping is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful, hoping that his music will be a powerful instrument in the hands of God to bring many youth to salvation in Jesus Christ.