Yesterday's first reading for Mass stuck with me. Not just because it is a fantastic passage, but because it is so timely. It landed on July 2nd; just two days before America's 250th anniversary. The passage tells how the people of the northern kingdom of Israel told Amos to stop criticizing the nation and to leave and go to the southern kingdom of Judah.
In case you do not know it, the northern kingdom of Israel split from the south because it wanted to be independent of the harsh rules and restrictions of the King of Israel. They separated off, declared their independence and formed a new manner of worship (i.e. Samaritanism), similar to, but not the same as the temple worship of the Hebrew faith. They were rebels who refused to listen to the word of God which was spoken by His prophet. Yep. Did you catch the irony?
Two and a half centuries ago, the founding fathers of America left England (and a few other countries) because they did not want to listen to the religious authorities; they came to America, and advanced (mostly) protestantism, with new ways to worship that were not known by Christians before the sixteenth century. I am not the first to mention the similarity between the Samaritan division of the northern kingdom and the protestant separation from the Church, but few people recognize the similarity in ancient Israel's rebellious fight for independence and the founding of America. Just saying.