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Evangelization through Music

Author: Gerci Lopes de Souza, SSpS
Subject: Evangelization, Music
Language: English, Spanish

There are many ways and means to evangelize. Music is one of the most effective resources for evangelization. Through the media, music enters our homes and animates our environments, public and private. In special moments such as birth, Eucharist, confirmation, marriage and funerals, music is always present, either to welcome or to say goodbye to someone. Therefore, a composer has a great responsibility when they write a song. I understand that they do not write for themselves, but for others.

The experience I have with music is significant, with a special meaning for me as a person and as a consecrated person. Since I was little, I often heard my parents sing religious songs freely, as well as old country and folk songs. My father played a musical instrument. I confess that this type of music never appealed to me very much, but I never stopped listening to it and enjoying it. I was given a taste for music from my parents, especially from my father, who woke us up in the morning with music from the radio. This led me to have a preference for listening to the radio, rather than being in front of the television. Since my childhood, I always dreamed of being able to sing in front of the public, with a microphone in hand, with other people or individually.

But would that be possible, even if my voice were not the best?

Miracles happen. During my initial formation period in religious life, I participated in a Missionary Contest organized by the SSpS Provinces of North and South Brazil. In preparation for the beatification of Mother Josepha, the two Brazilian provinces organized to record a missionary CD to celebrate this great feast, that was so significant for our Congregation. The songs had to be originals, written by oneself. I participated in the contest with three compositions. To my surprise and joy, my compositions were selected and included on the CD.

The opportunity appeared precisely at a time when I participated in a religious event in the city of Ponta Grossa with my own vocation song. At this gathering, the laity and sisters present encouraged me to continue writing and recording my songs, as a way of contributing to the Congregation and making the Missionary Charism and Trinitarian Spirituality of the SSpS Sisters known through the media.  I am not an expert in music (I cannot read, nor write sheet music, much less play various instruments, only the guitar), but if I had to write a complete work, it was very easy for me. It is inexplicable, but then natural gifts cannot be explained.

Since then I have never stopped writing because I was sure it was a miracle from Mother Josepha and I understood that God was giving me a gift to be put at the service of the Mission and the Kingdom. I take every opportunity and occasion to write. The inspiration does not depend on me, but on the context, the reality or the event that occurs. The only obstacle is time. Many times an idea comes to mind, but because of what I’m doing at that moment, I can’t stop to develop it, and so ideas get lost along the way. Anyway, I keep singing because I feel like I have a unique mission: to sing and be happy. On weekends, when there is more tranquility and I have time, I dedicate myself to singing and dancing freely and creatively. For me both things are interconnected.

As it is written in the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “There is a time for everything”. Now I have recorded two CDs. The first: O ENCONTRO, was recorded only in Portuguese. The second: DEUS CUIDA DE MIM, was recorded in Portuguese and in Spanish. I started composing while I was still in Brazil, and later continued to do so as a missionary in Spain.

My thanks to God in the first place, to the Virgin Mary, my main source of inspiration, to my parents and family for their support and appreciation, and especially to the South Brazil Province, for the editions of the CDs and the recognition of my work. May this continue to bring the Word of God to all people, countries and continents where we are present. And may it also contribute to making the Triune God more and more known, loved and glorified through my compositions.

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Gerci Lopes de Souza, SSpS

Sister Gerci Lopes de Souza, Missionary Servant of the Holy Spirit, is an educator with a degree in Early Childhood Education and Educational Guidance. In 2008 she went to Spain as a missionary. She worked in mission animation with youth and adults there, and as an expert in early childhood education. She returned to Brazil and continues to work in education.

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