January 2025
The
COURIER
Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN | dowr.org
Gaining True Freedom Through
Faith and Music By KAT LARSON
�ebastian Modarelli works at the Co-Cathedral of
St. John the Evangelist in Rochester as the director of liturgy and music. He is also active in the Communion and Liberation community established by Fr. Luigi Giussani. Most importantly, he is a man of faith and has always been compelled to follow the will of God. Sebastian grew up in Buenos Aires, and his faith was fostered by and grown within his family. This strong faith background from his earliest years led him to recognize that God was real. Sebastian's faith journey has been full of many experiences that have only deepened his devotion to the Lord. Sebastian's story is pure proof that if you give your life to the Lord, he can transform it into a living example of the beauty of Christ on earth. Sebastian has demonstrated this through his work with music, but also through living his life in community and writing his own blog. Sebastian's connection to the Lord, and his desire to seek him, only grew as he matured. He had been living out his faith when he came upon some speeches on liturgical music by Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and realized that Cardinal Ratzinger must have encountered Christ in a way similar to his own. This affirmed how he approached his faith. Sebastian sees it as experiential dynamic as opposed to ideological dynamic. It was a shock when he encountered other people who did not experience God as a real factor of life. When Sebastian was 14 years old, he met boys
Sebastian Modarelli (left) greets Pope Francis (right).
and girls the same age who professed his same experiences of faith. Any person they met was welcomed, and everyone was important. Sebastian would never have learned the significance of Christ if not for this community, which is known as Communion and Liberation, a movement fully devoted to encountering Christ. He joined Communion and Liberation and has been part of it ever since. Music was a key influence in Sebastian's life, leading to a closer relationship with Christ. When he was young, he learned to play the piano, then the organ, and was eventually hired at the Buenos Aires major seminary as the organist when he was 22 years old, and later as a sacred music teacher at the introductory seminary.
Faith and Music, cont'd on pg. 7
SVdP Is More Than Home Visits By TIM GEISLER
�hen you hear “Society of St. Vincent de
Paul,” your first thought might be of thrift stores or home visits. While these are common, these are not the primary mission of the Society. Founded by Blessed Frederic Ozanam in 1833, SVdP is “a network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, who strive to grow in holiness through personal relationship with each other and through service to people in need.” These three pillars of friendship, spirituality and service are the basis of the Society. First and foremost, Vincentians gather in friendship with like-minded men and women to deepen their faith. Conference members meet twice each month to foster and maintain their spirit of friendship. The meetings are less about conducting business than to celebrate and deepen the unity of its members for essentially spiritual reasons. Each conference has a spiritual advisor whose role is to ensure spirituality and friendship are the focus of every element of the meeting. Opening and closing prayers, along with a specific time for spiritual reflection, heighten the awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence during the meeting. Once members have grown spiritually, they better understand their response to the call of Christ, to provide service to others. The Society’s mission is clear: our ministry is a means for acquiring holiness so we can imitate Christ in serving those in need.
SvDP, cont'd on pg. 7
INSIDE this issue
Embracing Refugees
Celebrating Vocations page 8
page 9
The Reality of Evil and the Love of God page 10
