May 22, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 10Oakland, CA

Musician priest who helped implement
Vatican II retires

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Father Don Osuna began his priestly career in what could literally be called revolutionary times.

As a member of the ordination class of 1963, he was among the group of priests who graduated from the seminary when the Church was on the cusp of change. The Second Vatican Council was in session and these new priests were charged with implementing the changes called for by the council.

“We were the front line because the older crowd probably had no clue to what this was all about,” said the priest.

Vatican II created a wave of change – from the liturgical to the social – in the Church, and Father Osuna and his seminary classmates were ready because they had been exposed to the “new theology” during their last year of seminary study.

“We were fortunate enough to be aware of all these things. So when they came we were delighted to implement them whereas some of the other fellows were kind of fearful. They were exciting times precisely because of that.”

In his first assignment at St. Jarlath Parish in Oakland, Father Osuna began carrying out the directives of Vatican II by organizing a home Bible study group with married couples. That study group flourished, and one of the couples started a Bible school for preschool children where adults told the youngsters stories about God.

Almost every night, Father Osuna visited a home where three or four couples were gathered. “I saw the Scriptures transform their lives. I really did,” the priest said.

By discussing and sharing their faith with one another, participants in the Scripture group were enabled and encouraged to do all kinds of other emerging ministries such as becoming lectors and Eucharistic ministers, he added.

In a reflection of his own musical talents, Father Osuna started a music program at the Oakland parish that included a 20-member boys’ choir. The youngsters wore black cassocks, red bows and white surplices.

The musical arts have been part of Father Osuna’s life since his youth. Born in Oakland to parents who emigrated from Mexico, he grew up in St. Louis Bertrand Parish where he was baptized, received First Communion and served as an altar boy. He displayed his musical talents there as a soloist in the school choir.

The youngest of 10 children, he traces the seeds for his religious vocation to the years he spent at St. Louis Bertrand as well as the strong faith of his mother.
“My mom was very religious. She went to the 6:30 Mass every morning – probably to get away from the 10 kids,” he said with a laugh.

His interest in religious life grew during a visit to Mexico where he toured a seminary. Realizing that he wanted to study there, he stayed and began his seminary education. He returned to the Bay Area and later graduated from St. Joseph College in Mountain View and St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.

At this time Bishop Floyd Begin, the diocese’s founding bishop, had introduced the practice of ordaining new priests in each priest’s home parish rather than in one large ceremony at the cathedral in the hope of boosting vocations to the priesthood.

But when the bishop ordained Father Osuna at St. Louis Bertrand Church on March 30, 1963, the ceremony had more than a local impact because it was televised locally on Channel 2.

Four years later, the bishop invited the young priest to organize the liturgy for the dedication of the recently remodeled St. Francis de Sales Cathedral.
“I wrote the music for the occasion and performed it with a large choir ensemble. I guess the bishop was very impressed so he made me director of music for the diocese.”

With that appointment, Bishop Begin gave Father Osuna the instruction to create a model liturgy for the diocese.

The priest became part of an innovative pastoral team at St. Francis de Sales along with Msgr. Michael Lucid, who became rector in 1969, and Father James Keeley. The team made liturgy the top goal. “As Jimmy Keeley said, ‘We want to teach our people how to pray,’” Father Osuna recalled.

To accomplish their goal, the priests had to do a little creative financing to create a parish music program. Choosing to invest $25,000 in the parish school rather than a new $37,000 organ left them with an existing organ that was inadequate. “All we had was this electronic thing,” Father Osuna said of that instrument.
“John McDonnell (who assisted the priest in forming the new cathedral choir) said, “‘This was not going to work.’”

Without a new organ, Father Osuna and McDonnell improvised by drawing on a pool of local musicians who formed an ensemble that at first featured string instruments, a trumpet and a guitar. The group, which grew with the addition of other musicians, later became known for its “cathedral sound.”

The musicians, students hired from the music department at Cal State, displayed great versatility. “They could do jazz or classical or rock or anything in between.”

Liturgies would usually start with a traditional hymn and end with gospel music and could include an eclectic mix of classical and choir pieces. As time went on, many people throughout the diocese and beyond were drawn to the parish for the liturgy that also included other art forms such as dance, drama or meditative slide presentations. In order to have a seat, worshippers arrived as much as 45 minutes before Mass started.

Under Father Osuna’s leadership, the cathedral liturgies gained national recognition, including a 1971 article in Time magazine.

Father Osuna was appointed to the U.S. bishop’s liturgy committee and he also served as director of the diocesan Office of Worship and as a member of the diocesan liturgical commission. In 1975 he was appointed cathedral rector.

He left the cathedral in 1986 to study psychology and then returned to pastoral ministry and served terms as pastor at St. Jerome Parish in El Cerrito (1990-2001) and at St. Mary Parish (2001-2006) in Walnut Creek, where he found himself focusing more on administrative skills than artistic ones. While admittedly “a little more challenging,” the priest, who retired earlier this month at age 70, said that the time he spent with the people in these faith communities was “just as enjoyable.”

To begin his retirement, Father Osuna plans to travel to Mexico and Europe. Whe he returns, he hopes to lend his expertise to local parishes if needed. “I’m looking forward to that.”

Father Don Osuna

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