Making Music for the Lord; Rev. Fr. Bong Panganiban

Oh sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised! -Psalm 96: 1-4

For me, the highest praise to God is thru music. When you sing to God, you communicate from your innest being. You put so much thoughts and feelings to it. I feel so alive and connected with Him when I sing to Him.

Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let the saints be Joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud in their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth...                                                      -Psalm 149:3-6

I always have high regard for those who create music for the Lord. I was blessed to have known one - Fr. Bong Panganiban. He dedicated his life to the Lord, doing what he loves to do, MUSIC! His family is a very good example of genuine service to our Almighty God. One of his sisters is a nun, and his brother Richard is also a priest. is  He is brother to my Aunt Cecil,  mom of my darling 1st cousin Rodcel.

special thanks to The Seraphim Choir for this picture.

He wrote music and songs that we sang in choir at mass in the Philippines. He was Director of Music for a long time at St. Francis de Sales Major Seminary in Lipa City.

Music is in his soul. What is amazing about it is he is so "intuned".  What I mean about this, is that whenever he directs the choir, the Priest celebrant need not worry about the pitch he has to make. When they sing parts of the mass and the people has to respond in song too, he will tell the organist or pianist what key it is so the music is in harmony with the pitch. To illustrate it,  when the Celebrant sing,s for example "Through Him, with Him and In Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever........ Fr. Bong will say to the pianist, "G"! meaning the Priest sang in the key of G and people will sing "Amen" perfectly in tune.

A jolly good fellow is a very apt description of him. He was very funny, too. He has a pet name for me. He called me "Coney Reyes" (a celebrity in the Phils. who is very beautiful and has big feet) when I was a kid and everytime he saw me.  He used to aim the camera at my feet just to tease me or point at my feet and make a gesture of measuring them.

My unforgettable memory of him, though, is when we had a gathering at my Uncle Cliff's house in Makati. I was still in college then.We, Filipinos love to sing. At that time, the videoke was not "in" yet. Tito Bong, as we fondly call him, sat in the piano providing accompaniment as we were singing. The cool thing about it is, we need not follow they keys coz he followed ours. Praise You, Father, for the privilege of sharing special moments with Tito Bong.

His journey on this earth has ended March 26th. I am sure he is doing what he loves to do, singing his praises to our God in heaven. I am not saying good-bye, Tito Bong, but see you later!

Below are 2 of the video tributes given by people whose lives he blessed and touched....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgLiXLrqTRs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeEcxWP4AVg

Good bye, proud world! I’m going home; Thou art not my friend; I am not thine. - Ralph Waldo Emerson