Christmas Eve Service

The Episcopal Church welcomes everyone: male or female, old or young, black or white, straight or gay, believers or non-believers, masked or unmasked, sinners or non- ...actually, everyone sins.

The Episcopal and Catholic churches have a name for everything. The thurifer is the acolyte who holds the censer, which holds the incense. For those of us with allergies (cough), I'm glad the church doesn't burn incense as much as it used to.

The priest read the passage from Luke:

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

Bah, humbug! We go overboard with inclusive language. Much better:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Merry Christmas!