The John-Henry Westen Show - Move over 50 Cent & Run-D.M.C., Álvaro Vega can top your rhyme

00:00:00.000 The Holy Spirit just hit me like a ton of bricks and I kind of realized what am I doing with my

00:00:05.200 life? You know, here I am living my life, wasting it, living for the temporary things of this world

00:00:10.840 while ignoring my eternal soul. That was kind of the question from Mark 8 verse 36, what does the

00:00:17.420 profit a man to gain the world but lose his soul? That really got me to question where I was at

00:00:22.560 in this world and in my relationship with the Lord.

00:00:30.000 Hey my friends, it's very hard today to reach out to young people because they're flooded with

00:00:38.820 video games and music and everything else that seems to just draw all of their attention.

00:00:45.520 A few people though engage with them anyway and they get right in there with the very mediums that

00:00:51.600 the young people are listening to. There is a rapper, he's a Catholic, he's actually a former seminarian

00:00:57.500 and he's very faithful but he's a rapper that is willing to speak to the very hard issues

00:01:06.740 in the format, in this medium in which the kids are all listening to. And that way us parents have

00:01:15.660 an opportunity to inject into our kids' lives in the type of stuff that they're already listening to

00:01:22.120 good and positive information, information about the faith that encourages them to take on the faith

00:01:29.020 including its hard teachings, all in a format that they're going to want to listen to. Now you can't

00:01:36.960 do that if, you know, the stuff you're putting out while it's got a good message is kind of a little

00:01:43.420 bit second rate, it's kind of like cheesy, it doesn't work. So when I find really, really good ones,

00:01:49.780 I want to bring those to you. So stay tuned for this episode of the John Henry Weston Show where

00:01:55.160 we're going to be talking with one of those artists, very, very faithful Catholic who's got

00:02:00.240 really awesome music. Stay tuned.

00:02:04.780 Hello friends. To celebrate the momentous overturning of Roe v. Wade, we at LifeSite have minted just under

00:02:10.540 10,000 of these brand new limited edition pro-life silver rounds. Now each round is stamped with the

00:02:16.640 image of the Supreme Court of the United States featuring the date that the High Court delivered

00:02:20.920 this historic victory. And on the front of our pure silver rounds, LifeSite's logo surrounded by a

00:02:25.620 brilliant sunburst and draped with olive branches. They of course commemorate our 25-year anniversary

00:02:30.480 of LifeSite News. We began in 1997 in September. So September of 2022 was 25 years. These one-ounce

00:02:37.700 silver rounds are available from our partners at StJosephsPartners.com where you can fulfill all of

00:02:43.760 your silver and gold needs in this perilous time. May God bless you.

00:02:48.860 Alvaro Vega, so good to be with you. So let's begin as you always do with the Son of the Cross.

00:02:53.380 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

00:02:58.920 Now, it's stunning to talk to you today. I love the way our Lord arranges things. Today is the first day

00:03:04.940 we learn of the results from the Ohio Constitution change that was made by an overwhelming majority

00:03:13.620 of the people of Ohio. It's stunning because, as your song says so very well, their blood cries out.

00:03:22.040 In the scriptures we learn, the blood of the innocent cries out to heaven for vengeance.

00:03:26.240 If you don't mind, we're going to listen to part of your song now, and then I'd like to get you to

00:03:33.720 comment on it because you obviously wrote this way before anything like this happened, but here we are

00:03:39.340 facing it right now. So let's give a listen to this second part or latter part, if you will,

00:03:44.780 of Alvaro's song. Alvaro, in his stage name, or his artist name, is known as Communion. Check this out.

00:03:54.260 The mercy of God stands ready to be apportioned to everyone who's had an abortion. God knows your

00:04:01.460 pain and understands everything that you're feeling, and he's ready to give you his forgiveness and

00:04:07.200 healing. The humble, contrite heart he will not despise. The Father came to give you a new life

00:04:13.640 through Christ after absolving you from ending life when you were pregnant. But he ushers a warning

00:04:19.440 for the unrepentant. The fifth commandment seals the right to life endowed by the creator. So if you

00:04:25.120 take a baby's life, you will face your maker. If you don't repent, you'll pay the consequence later.

00:04:31.760 Their blood cries out to the heavens, to their savior. I tremble for my country when I reflect that

00:04:37.360 God is just, and the money that funds abortion says in God we trust. Know that each aborted child that's

00:04:43.480 been taken, has a father in the heavens, and they'll never be forsaken.

00:04:48.380 Every life that's torn apart. Every broken, bleeding heart. Their blood cries out. Their blood cries out.

00:05:02.600 But we can't trade love for violence. And these babies won't stay silent. Their blood cries out.

00:05:12.360 Their blood cries out.

00:05:18.380 So Alvaro, if I can get your take on what just happened in Ohio, and what your thoughts were in

00:05:27.160 creating this part of your rap song, which talks about the Lord's justice.

00:05:34.340 Yeah, what happened in Ohio is very sad. And it's just another, it shows us how deeply

00:05:41.200 these pro-abortion, this pro-abortion stance is rooted in the people, you know, and especially

00:05:51.800 in a few generations now. With my song, Blood Cries Out, you know, rap music being the music that

00:05:59.620 youth and young adult listen to. I want to be able to influence the culture to transform hearts and

00:06:06.060 minds on this issue of abortion. There's people that maybe they support abortion, but they don't

00:06:12.420 know all the facts. Or, you know, maybe they've been brainwashed by, you know, some of the positions.

00:06:18.100 And so with my song, I'm hoping to do a few things, actually. One, you know, if there's someone on the

00:06:24.640 fence, and they listen to the song, I hope that they will sway to, you know, change their stance to

00:06:30.780 begin to actually, you know, defend life. And also, those that continue in their staunch, you know, pro-abortion

00:06:39.260 platform, for them to know that God's justice remains, you know, for those that refuse to repent.

00:06:47.920 It is a way to interject the reality of the loss of life into people's imagination. So I thought it was brilliant.

00:06:56.900 Let's give that a listen.

00:07:00.780 She was a masterful surgeon, healing in her hands, a passion for the hurting. Everyone who knew her

00:07:08.280 said she was a spectacular person. After serving as a surgeon, she went into researching. After 30

00:07:14.280 years of study, with long hours endured, in 80-hour weeks, she finally found the cure. Around the world,

00:07:21.060 it was stated by every news reporter, the war against cancer is finally over. Billions delivered

00:07:28.380 from certain death and agony. Tears of joy poured forth on the precipice of tragedy. The most famous

00:07:34.900 story was that of her mother, Ramona. She cured her from stage four, Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was an

00:07:41.280 answer to prayers, a chosen soul. God had sent her, but her story was never told. Unfortunately,

00:07:48.280 her life was tragically shortened. It never happened because Ava was aborted.

00:07:54.100 That's really brilliant. Where did you come up with that?

00:07:59.620 Well, I got to give props to my co-writers, Joe Salon and John Mink. They were together with these two

00:08:06.100 Christian brothers. We wrote this song together. And so, you know, this was one of the early drafts I

00:08:13.120 heard of the song really just, it just impacted me so much. It kind of, you know, hit me. And I was like,

00:08:20.260 wow, this, you know, I had never really thought of abortion in that way. How many future, you know,

00:08:27.180 saints and inventors and healers and people that, you know, were going to change the world in a huge

00:08:33.760 way, did we stop from actually existing? And so Joe, he had an early draft of this song with that

00:08:41.700 story. I thought it was amazing. And he kind of abandoned the song later on. And I just called him

00:08:49.380 up one day and I was like, hey, I would like to retake this and, you know, modify it a bit and

00:08:56.220 put it out there and, you know, come up with a new beat, a new musical track that will appeal to,

00:09:03.420 you know, to the youth right now, to young listeners. And so we did it, you know, I started

00:09:08.560 working on the lyrics, modifying some of the language to really get it to where it was going to,

00:09:14.620 you know, impact others. And also I modified some of the language so that it would be

00:09:21.140 done in a prudent way, you know, so as not to offend others, because when we're treading on this

00:09:27.000 pro-life issue and speaking about abortion is very, you have to be very careful to use the right

00:09:35.280 language, you know, so that you don't unnecessarily turn someone off from the message. And so,

00:09:42.100 you know, we started working on it and, you know, for God's glory, we're able to finish the song and

00:09:49.020 the music video. And I'm really happy with how this collabo came.

00:09:53.740 Beautiful. Your song's awesome. I think it's going to do a lot of good. I think it's going to get out

00:09:57.140 there to the youth. And I think parents are especially going to be like, oh, hey, kids,

00:10:00.900 I heard this rap song and I don't know, what do you think of it? There's a lot of good ideas for

00:10:06.920 parents there. This is, they're able to interject something that's really good to their kids

00:10:10.760 in that medium that they themselves want. So, tell us about yourself, because it's not regular

00:10:16.160 to have rap artists. I know of one other one who are solid Catholics, who basically live for the 1.00

00:10:23.360 faith. You obviously do that. Where did that come from? I want to say my parents laid the foundation

00:10:28.220 of my Catholic Christian faith. You know, if it wasn't for them, I would not be where I am today.

00:10:33.040 That being said, you know, as a youth, I did, you know, rebel and go astray some. And so I had a

00:10:42.400 conversion experience that happened many years ago, reading this book called The Imitation of Christ

00:10:47.480 by Thomas Kempis. And the Lord just, you know, reading that book at random, just flipping through

00:10:54.000 the pages, the Holy Spirit just hit me like a ton of bricks. And I kind of realized, what am I doing

00:10:59.820 with my life? You know, here I am living my life, wasting it, living for the temporary things of

00:11:06.120 this world while ignoring my eternal soul, you know? And so that was kind of the question, you

00:11:13.500 know, from Mark 8, verse 36, what does it profit a man to gain the world but lose his soul? That really

00:11:19.360 got me to question where I was at in this world and in my relationship with the Lord. And so from there,

00:11:26.760 I surrender my heart to Jesus, you know, I experienced his peace, his love, his forgiveness,

00:11:32.260 his mercy, his presence in a very powerful way. I experienced a lot of healing as well,

00:11:39.320 supernatural healings. And so that was, you know, from that point, I abandoned my secular music career

00:11:48.340 because I did begin as a secular rapper, you know, influenced by Eminem initially. And so I was making

00:11:55.160 really foul, vulgar music, bad language and stuff. And so I put that away and I started using my talents

00:12:02.960 for the kingdom of God, you know, to preach the gospel to the youth. That encounter with the Lord

00:12:07.240 was so powerful that it catapulted me into the seminary, you know, to discern my vocation.

00:12:14.940 And I studied in the seminary for almost six years in the Archdiocese of Miami, almost became a priest,

00:12:21.240 but it wasn't God's will, you know, God has other things in store for me. So as I continue to discern

00:12:28.340 my vocation at the moment, I'm using this gift that God has given me of rap music in order to

00:12:35.340 preach the gospel to the youth. What is your hope for this and your other music? I've seen a couple of

00:12:43.780 your other songs out there. How do you get inspired to do them? Give us a little bit of your process.

00:12:51.240 I draw inspiration really from different factors. I mean, sometimes it could be something that I

00:12:57.720 experience that, you know, sometimes it could be the Holy Spirit stir something up in my soul.

00:13:04.520 And I'm like, you know what, I need to make a song about this. I have a song, for example,

00:13:09.440 about Mother Mary, you know, my devotion to our blessed mother. And some stories I heard about

00:13:15.460 exorcists and how they invoke the name of Mary during exorcisms that really inspired me to write

00:13:20.240 that song. For example, this pro-life song, Blood Cries Out, Believe It or Not, began the inspiration

00:13:26.780 to want to do something musically, you know, on the pro-life issue actually started many years ago

00:13:33.660 when I went to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. as a seminarian. And I was just like flabbergasted

00:13:39.400 seeing, you know, so many youth standing up for life. I was like, it just stirred something inside of

00:13:45.440 me. And I was like, you know what, I want to do something too. So I think that's when God planted

00:13:50.020 the seed in me. You know, and then later when I met Joe Salon, the other co-writer for the song

00:13:55.780 Blood Cries Out, and we got together, that's when, you know, things started coming together and we

00:14:01.540 completed the song. My first song, I Believe, it's called I Believe, and I have a Spanish version,

00:14:07.980 Increo en Dios. That was my very first song that I ever put out. And really what inspired me to put

00:14:15.540 out that song was to want to have an anthem for the youth to be like, you know what, this is our

00:14:21.920 faith. We're proud of our faith. You know, we love the Lord. We love the church. And here we are. And so

00:14:27.600 that was like the motivation behind that, you know, wanting to do something that was really

00:14:31.840 going to just put the faith out there and have a hymn or an anthem for the youth to stand behind.

00:14:39.720 Man deciding for himself, I ain't wrong, it's nonsense. I believe in the law written in our

00:14:46.660 conscience. I believe in the return of Christ and glory and power. Stay awake because we know

00:14:51.220 neither the day nor the hour. Persevere in prayer and always be watchful and labor for the gospel

00:14:56.740 like an apostle. I believe that through Christ all things are possible. We could conquer evil in

00:15:02.280 every obstacle to make the world a better place for the human race. Every nation giving God things

00:15:07.620 giving in praise. Each man reflecting Christ in his face. With an undying charity and love that is

00:15:13.520 chased. You call yourself Communion. How did that, you know, where'd you get that from? And what's the

00:15:22.660 sort of story behind that? So after abandoning my secular music career, you know, I stopped using

00:15:29.140 that old name that I was using. And I wanted a new name, you know, something that would show my

00:15:34.120 Catholic identity. And so I went to my mom, actually, who's always been like, you know,

00:15:39.680 the spiritual pillar of my family growing up. And I said, Mom, you know, what name should I pick now

00:15:45.340 for this Catholic music that I want to do? So my mom, you know, being a woman of God, she's like,

00:15:50.200 I'm going to pray on it. So she prayed about it. And she came to me later. I don't remember if it was,

00:15:55.580 you know, the next day or whatever. And she told me that the name that the Holy Spirit put in her heart

00:16:01.160 should that that I should pick ought to be a name that will lead people to the Eucharist.

00:16:08.060 And so as soon as she said that, like communion just like popped into my head. And so also having

00:16:13.580 learned in seminary, you know, that God created human beings to live in communion with him and in

00:16:19.720 communion with one another, I thought it was the perfect name. Finally, let me tell you this and ask

00:16:25.860 you, your parents must be very proud of you. I wish I could have your mom on and ask her, but

00:16:30.460 tell us what, uh, what, when you converted, when you turned around, when you started turning your

00:16:37.880 life, your music, everything toward Jesus and his church, how did that affect your parents?

00:16:42.560 Oh, they were thrilled. I remember when I had that powerful encounter with the Lord and, um,

00:16:48.180 I went from being a very negative person to, you know, now being a positive person. I, I went from being

00:16:55.120 very, a very depressed person to now being able to smile. And so they were, they were astounded,

00:17:02.740 you know, at the miracle that God had worked in my life, you know, before their eyes. And,

00:17:08.740 and so they were, they were just like super happy for me. And I think, you know, the music thing,

00:17:14.880 it was just like a logical consequence. It's like, okay, you know, I'm no longer going to serve the

00:17:20.460 world or myself with this musical talent. I now want to serve the Lord. And so for them,

00:17:25.760 it was just, you know, logical that I would follow that path with my music.

00:17:30.460 Beautiful. Tell everyone where, can they find you? Where can they find your music?

00:17:33.700 So you can check out my music on YouTube. Communion Hip Hop is my channel. And also my

00:17:38.960 official website is communionhiphop.com. My music is on, on all digital platforms as well.

00:17:44.100 So that is awesome. Alvaro Vega, thank you so much for being with us. Please keep doing what

00:17:49.560 you're doing. Love Jesus. Imitation of Christ. Second most powerful, well, next to the scriptures,

00:17:57.140 of course, second most powerful book after a true devotion to Mary, at least according to the

00:18:02.300 demons that hate those three books, the worst in the world. God bless you, my friend. Thank you.

00:18:07.180 Thank you so much. God bless you too.

00:18:09.000 And we'll see you next time. God bless you all.

00:18:14.100 Hi, everyone. This is John Henry Weston. We hope you enjoyed this program. To see more like it,

00:18:26.620 be sure to hit the subscribe button below to get all the latest content from LifeSite News. Check

00:18:31.520 the links in the description to read more and connect with us on social media so that you can stay up to

00:18:36.280 date with all the latest life, family, faith, and freedom news. Thanks for watching and may God bless you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - November 17, 2023

Move over 50 Cent & Run-D.M.C., Álvaro Vega can top your rhyme

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