HONG KONG (SE): “All the songs were so beautiful. They are wonderful gifts for Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph on Mary’s birthday during the Year of St. Joseph!” said John Lewis, the lyricist of the winning submission, I Stand in Silent Awe, in a songwriting competition honour ing St. Joseph, organised by Our Lady of Perpetual Help chapel in Tai O, one of the Mass centres of Epiphany Parish, Mui Wo.
Winners performed their songs during the celebration at the chapel on September 8, the Feast of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While Lewis wrote the lyrics, Tunde Olaosegba from Nigeria composed the music to the winning song which was sung by Ivan Jegdic from Serbia.
“I feel humbled, surprised and shocked as I know nothing about music. I think it is really God’s planning as he provided what was needed just in time,” Lewis commented after the song was chosen out of 13 participating entries.
He recalled that he was inspired by the songs in the Gospel of Luke connected to the birth of Jesus, which he sings aloud while driving. He came up with a list of words for the lyrics to describe St. Joseph, a quiet carpenter, during that time.
The next day after Mass, he felt more words were given to him and he wrote them down.
However, Lewis knew nothing about writing music, so he searched online for help and found Olaosegba who helped him complete the song and Jegdic, who sang it.
Second prize went to St. Joseph Our Model in Faith written by Pabio Larano, a seminarian in the Philippines, which was sung by Carmen Suan. Third place went to Great St. Joseph, composed by Joseph Law.
Suan expressed her joy at singing during the ceremony, saying, “I was delighted to be given a chance to preach and share about the life of St. Joseph through this simple composition of ours.”
During the feast day celebration, Father Jojo Ancheril, assistant parish priest of Epiphany Parish, and Father Luke Tsui Kam-yiu awarded certificates and cash prizes to the winners.
According to Father Ancheril, the songs submitted honoured the faith humility, hard work and courage of St. Joseph.
“The lyrics and their composition were of high quality. This was really amazing. Contestants participated from different countries—and some of them are not Catholics—but they created great songs about St. Joseph. I really appreciate all the participants,” Father Ancheril said.
“The result of the contest shows that no matter where you are and who you are, we are one family of God,” he added.
He thanked Janice Mok, a volunteer who did the coordination work for the contest, as well as Candle Light, a group of laypeople, who helped with the preparation work of the awarding ceremony.
