QUEZON CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- For a Jesuit seminarian, awards and titles given Father Eduardo Hontiveros, who died here recently, cannot capture the extent of the late composer's contribution to liturgical music and evangelization.

Mark Lopez says Father Hontiveros advanced the work of evangelization in the country and abroad through more than 400 musical compositions, the joy with which he lived and his deep faith.

In a commentary sent to UCA News on Jan. 21, the 31-year-old seminarian recalls highlights of the priest's music ministry, which included gentle melodies typical of the Philippine musical form called kundiman, along with snappy tunes in the balitaw song-and-dance style.

In 2006 and 2007, Lopez and Father Hontiveros -- known popularly as "Father Honti" -- lived in the same community, while the seminarian was engaged in his first year of philosophy studies, which precede theology studies.

Even before entering the seminary, Lopez sang with parish and school choirs, and he currently composes music with Hangad (wish) and Himig Heswita (Jesuit music), two of the choirs under the Jesuit Music Ministry based in Quezon City, northeast of Manila. Some of their members joined the choir at the Jan. 19 funeral Mass for Father Hontiveros, who died on Jan. 15 at age 84 after suffering a stroke.

Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila presided at the Mass, held at Church of the Gesu on the campus of Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

Lopez's commentary on the late Jesuit musician-priest's legacy follows:

During the funeral mass for Father Eduardo P. Hontiveros, S.J., no less than the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, came to pay her respects. She stayed for the entire celebration of the Holy Eucharist, then conferred a posthumous Presidential Medal of Merit on "Father Honti" as the "Father of Filipino Liturgical Music."

This title had been given him, uncontestedly, many times through the last three decades of his life. The medals, plaques and memorabilia of recognition seemed countless among the items on exhibit at the Loyola House of Studies where his body was waked. Among these were the Tanglaw ng Lahi (star of the race) Award from the Ateneo de Manila University (1976), the Asian Catholic Publishers' "Outstanding Catholic Author" award (1992), a papal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (for the Church and the pope) award (2000), and the Magnificat Award, given by former president Corazon Aquino and the late Cardinal Jaime Sin in 2001.

To those who appreciate the breadth and depth of Father Honti's contribution to the Philippine Church, however, no award nor the sum of all these can capture the value of the gifts of his music, priesthood and person.

Father Hontiveros' life and work bridged deep cultural divides. Even before the Second Vatican Council had set the stage for the inculturation of liturgy in 1965, Father Honti, in true pioneering form, was already composing Mass hymns in the vernacular and infusing them with distinctly Filipino elements like the kundiman and the balitaw. Later, his songs were translated into at least four of the most widely spoken dialects in the country, as well as into Mandarin.

In the Church's post-Second Vatican Council struggle to convey the integral dimension of justice to the work of faith, Father Honti's genius demonstrated one of its finest strokes - Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang (no one lives for one's self alone). Set to music, this thought from Romans 14 -- "For none of us lives for himself alone" -- eventually became one of the most popular songs for Mass, prayer and even street protests. Today, it is virtually impossible to find a Massgoing Filipino Catholic who cannot sing this song.

Many of the younger Jesuit composers, Father Manoling Francisco, Father Nemy Que, Father Fruto Ramirez, Father Arnel Aquino, and Father Jboy Gonzales, proudly admit to the influence of Father Honti. They marvel at his humble genius, eloquent compassion and valiant courage. And among these other virtues that bore fruit boundlessly for ministry, Father Honti's drive and generosity in sharing his gifts were also to make a difference.

What originally was a simple backyard operation of writing the songs by hand, mimeographing the score sheets and teaching his music to the different choirs in the 1960s, grew and evolved into what is now the Jesuit Music Ministry (JMM). Today, JMM is known as one of the widest-reaching and culturally adapted means of evangelization of the Philippine Jesuits. This ministry continues to produce one album or music video after another, spreading the Word through inspirational and liturgical music. It has also become most relevant to the challenge of working with today's youth, who have become harder to preach to but whose special affinity to music has grown significantly.

Father Honti's music helped nurture Christian faith. Father Bill Abbott, S.J., socius (executive assistant) of the Jesuit Philippine Province, relates how he was most struck by the testament of a lady who approached him after Father Honti's funeral. She introduced herself as formerly among the social activists with communist leanings during the martial-law years. Father Honti's music, she said, is what helped her and her other comrades "to keep the faith and to remain Catholic."

In his homily for the funeral Mass, renowned Filipino theologian Father Catalino Arevelo, S.J., his friend of 57 years, noted how many historical milestones have been graced by Father Honti's music. From China to Iceland to Rome, when a Filipino community gathers to break bread, Father Honti provides the musical score. Father Honti's music "has truly bonded us together," wrote the Filipino-American community of Los Angeles after a tribute they organized for him in 1996.

Father Honti wrote more than 400 songs in his lifetime, some of them after the stroke that left him semi-paralyzed in 1991. Through these, he became instrumental in moving the Philippine Church forward into a fuller, more inculturated faith, gave a nation its music in place of the common language it did not have, and accompanied those who struggle in a profoundly spiritual way. Cardinal Rosales called his work and contribution "celestial."

That his music would "lead people into prayer" is what he always said he wanted before the debilitating stroke. That stroke ironically silenced the last 17 years of his life. Despite suffering, he courageously continued to live with a profound and infectious joy that awed fellow Jesuits, friends and loved ones alike.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)