Nico Cabrera: faith and testimony in his voice

(OSV News) -- It is said that God gives everyone a gift or a talent. The one that Nico Cabrera received put him on a stage with other musicians to move the hearts of thousands at Lucas Oil Stadium at one of the revival sessions of the National Eucharistic Congress held in Indianapolis. During that week in July, he also helped thousands of attendees to sing, pray and draw closer to God with his music at the Spanish-language sessions of this congress.

"What a gift it is that we get to join Jesus in his mission and become an offering for his Church as he became an offering for us," he shared on social media following the congress.

Nicholas Cabrera was born in 1993 in Bogotá, Colombia, where he lived until he was 8 years old and his parents moved to the U.S. In talking about his journey, he told OSV News that when he was 15 years old, his parents were going through difficulties in their marriage, which made him question the existence of God or the justice of his designs.

"If there is a good God, I don't see it," he recalled thinking when he saw his parents arguing. "So, I rebelled. I wanted to be an atheist, then a Protestant. But at the age of 15, I had a moment in a retreat with the Blessed Sacrament that blew me away," he said. From there, he thought, "I have to serve God, period."

After graduating from high school, he studied theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, in 2012. He began the path of his music ministry, founding -- along with James Roman -- RoCa Band, a Catholic music group.

Since 2014, after receiving his degree, he worked as a theology teacher at girls' high schools for 10 years while performing with a band called Epic over the weekends. This music group participated in the 2019 World Youth Day in Panama.

Later, Cabrera decided to step aside from his music commitments and devote himself to writing. That's when a friend invited him to participate in an initiative called "The Vigil Project."

"My friend Greg -- Greg Boudreaux -- told me, 'We'd like to write a song to Mary and have you manage the project,'" he recalled.

Cabrera told him that he thought he was going to retire from music. "I said, 'Greg ... I don't know if it's my calling. I would be very sorry if you invest in this, and then I am not involved enough; I don't think it's right or prudent,' and he told me, 'We want it to be you,'" Cabrera said.

After accepting, he and Argentinian Catholic singer Athenas wrote and recorded "Pieta" (Dulce Madre), collaborating with Jonatan Narvaez, a well-known musician and video producer. This song has over 2 million views on YouTube.

"More projects started coming, and little by little," he said. When he realized "this is it" many more opportunities appeared, said Cabrera, who -- singing alongside Dominican artist Kairy Márquez -- was the Spanish-language music leader for the National Eucharistic Congress.

Cabrera said he holds a special affection for the Catholic Music Initiative among his musical projects. He is best friends with the members, and they often participate in Eucharistic adoration nights, conferences, and other events.

"I keep traveling. I do a lot of bilingual prayers, which is what I like the most. I go to a parish, I don't give concerts, I do prayer nights," he said, explaining that the bilingual prayer nights include a talk and reflection on the Eucharist.

"If they like my music, then blessed be God, what an honor. But what I've (really) come here to share with a group is ... a prayer so that one can fall more in love with God," he said.

Cabrera, who is working on a new collaborative project with a Protestant group, said that although the theology between Catholics and Protestants is different, it is important to share with "our brothers and sisters."

He added, "I love being Catholic; I do not plan to leave the church, I do not have that desire -- but I see that it is important to share with our brothers, because how are they going to get to know what we believe and think, if we never share it with them?"

"My deepest desire, more than sharing my music or my ministry, is that the person has an encounter with Christ," he said.