PROPERS: 07-04_Independence_Day_DL
Parishes live-streaming in the Diocese can be found here: https://www.eparchyofpassaic.com/directory
The Gospel Reading today is Matthew 9:18-26, tells us about Jesus’ authority over death and one’s true faith. The reading is as follows: “18* While he was saying these things to them, an official* came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.”19 Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel* on his cloak. 21She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”i 22Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. 23When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”* And they ridiculed him. 25When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. 26And news of this spread throughout all that land.” (from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
U.S.A. Independence Day
In the 1700s, America was 13 distinct colonies. Britain’s King George III enacted various laws and taxes on the colonial people without regard to hardship. Thus, the phrase “Taxation without representation is tyranny” was the rally. As the colonists rebelled, King George enacted more force on the colonists as well as the Stamp Act of 1765 which taxed all paper documents, i.e. newspapers, legal documents, ships’ papers, playing cards. In the fall 1768, British ships showed force by arriving in Boston Harbor. Tensions increased with the Boston Massacre in 1770. Then in 1773, the Boston Tea Party erupted, followed by the Revolutionary War in 1775. As more colonists desired independence, the Continental Congress finally met at the Pennsylvania State House, known as Independence Hall, in Philadelphia on June 7, 1776. During the meeting, Richard Henry Lee, the Virginia delegate, presented a motion calling for independence of the colonies from Britian. After debate, Congress rescheduled the vote on Lee’s resolution and selected a five-person committee to discuss and write the Declaration. Thus, the Declaration was prepared/written by the Committee of Five, of which Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was the principal author, and the other four members being John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Robert R. Livingston of New York. On July 4th 1776, the United States of America proclaimed its independence from Great Britian with the signing the “Declaration of Independence,” and the Fourth of July holiday was seen as the official anniversary of United States independence.
