As you recently read in our parish bulletin, Sister Margie and Danny O'Regan will be holding 'auditions' for young people interested in possibly forming a music group for our Sunday 12:00 noon Mass! Our idea is to have the teens of the parish lead music at the Sunday noon Mass perhaps once each month.

The people of St. Cecilia Parish in San Francisco were THRILLED to experience this new type of liturgical music last year, and so we will also be exploring such a possibility here at Our Lady of Mercy.

Already, we in Westlake are very blessed to have a variety of liturgical music options...our parish choir...our children's choir...our many cantors from the parish community...the new piano Fr. Curso purchased...the gorgeous organ bought by Fr. Ryan years back...Teresita Santisteban and Laura Reyes leading us on organ and piano!

If you are in high school or junior high and play an instrument (e.g., guitar, trumpet, saxophone, etc.), please call Danny O'Regan at 756-8684 or Sister Margie at 992-5769 to sign up for an audition.

"Sing joyfully to God our strength; shout in triumph to the God of Jacob! Take up a melody, sound the timbrel, the sweet-sounding harp and lyre. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast." [Psalm 81, New American Bible]

"Praise the Lord in his sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his strength. Praise him for his mighty deeds, praise him for his sovereign majesty. Praise him with the blast of the trumpet, praise him with lyre and harp, Praise him with timbrel and dance. Praise him with sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Alleluia." [Psalm 150, NAB]

Naturally, some people 'like' and others 'dislike' the idea of anything new, including our possible guitar Mass. Rather than relying merely on personal preferences, we on your Pastoral Staff try to base our decisions on the guidelines that come to us from the Holy See and from our own American Bishops. For those who feel a bit nervous about guitars at Mass, it would be good to explore the official statements of the Catholic Church in this regard, including the following quotation from THE CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY ("Sacrosanctum Concilium"), which has been a guiding force in our Church since it was promulgated by the Holy Father in 1963:

"120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things.

"However, OTHER instruments also may be admitted for use in divine worship..."

As our Sunday 12:00 p.m. is very popular with our teens and young families, we thought this might be the ideal time slot for something the young folks could help coordinate and enjoy. Stay tuned!