This past week, the International Committee on English in the Liturgy met in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Twice a year, the committee’s eleven bishops from English-speaking countries around the world meet with various experts. It is always a week of intense work as we prepare more accurate and richer translations for our Catholic worship.

During the first week of December, representatives from the Baptist World Alliance and the Catholic Church met to continue a five-year conversation. I am privileged to chair the Catholic delegation.

Today, marriage has lost its attraction for many Americans. Fewer people are taking the walk down the aisle. In the last thirty years, the number of men and women exchanging marriage vows has fallen by 50%.

In 1904, Adolph Ochs, the owner and publisher of The New York Times, celebrated the beginning of the New Year on the roof of One Times Square. Two years later, the tradition of dropping the famous ball in Times Square began. Today, thousands of people huddle there against the cold to watch the precise moment the New Year begins.