Just a year after U.S. Catholics began using the new English translation of the Roman Missal at Masses, the bishops agreed November 13 to have work begin on a revision of the Liturgy of the Hours. By a vote of 189 to 41, with one abstention, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved beginning work on updates to hymns, psalms, various canticles, psalm prayers, some antiphons, biblical readings and other components of the liturgical prayers used at various parts of the day. Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, chairman of the Committee on Divine Worship, said the work would probably take three to five years to complete. In presenting the request for a vote to the bishops, Archbishop Aymond said the aim of retranslation would be to more accurately reflect the original Latin texts. In all, the approval covered 23 different components of the Liturgy of the Hours. Actions to be taken range from incorporating psalms from the Revised Grail Psalter to having the International Commission on English in the Liturgy retranslate some antiphons, the updated proper of the saints and the "Te Deum," a traditional hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the gift of salvation in Christ. There were short discussions of the issue both when it was introduced November 12 and when the formal vote was taken. Among points raised by some bishops were Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's comment about "how pleased I am that the committee wants to revisit the Glory Be," because laypeople tend to use an older version than the bishops do.
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
