Neither St. Peter nor Paul chose to be apostles, Jesus, literally, chose both and changed both their lives.

So they went from being a fisherman in Peter’s case and a rabbi in Paul’s case to powerful men who helped evangelize the world. Both died around the mid 60’s A.D. in Rome. They were successful, obviously, because they were doing God’s work as Christ appointed them to do. However, they were also successful at their evangelization because they recognized the urgency of the situation.

The Gospel and all the teachings in it are true. We don’t always recognize this because the truths are not obvious in a spiritual world, but they are true. In time they become apparent, and often when they become apparent it is too late to do anything about it.

When Peter and Paul are in Rome, Jerusalem and the entire Jewish state is rushing into oblivion. The fall of Jerusalem will begin in less than a decade. Indeed, if we were living there now in that time, we would begin to see the end of all we hold dear in 2020, it would be only six years away and it was a vicious end, the siege would begin in only two years. So we would be looking at a short time until all was finished and  the end was filled with intense suffering and fell into a vicious savagery and barbarianism among the residents of the city themselves. If you read the account, it sounds like a horror movie, but it is real.

What causes all this? What did Peter and Paul understand about the urgency of evangelization? You can see it all today.

What is happening today in Iraq, the stories you hear of the horrible atrocities and the barbarianism of the enemies of the nation and our nation are the kind of thing you read in the Bible by the same demographic. The Fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC is a barbaric account where the people suffered horrible violence at the hands of the Babylonians. We look today at the same horrific violence. We hear the stories of vicious execution for things that we do not even consider to be crimes. How does this happen.

This happens because what is driving the political is the spiritual. We are fighting an enemy that lives with a spiritual vision that is barbaric compared to what we know. We cannot ignore the spiritual in our own lives and in the lives of others. We do so at the risk of the destruction that happens when the spiritual atrophies.

St. Peter and Paul clearly understood this dynamic and understood that Jesus, as the Son of the God was the source and summit of this dynamic. The spiritual drive all their actions and they taught others to do the same. What is going on in Iraq from our perspective is a clash of spiritualities.

Many will tell you to ignore the spiritual and peace will be found on the Earth. Indeed, many of those seeking to bring a socialist vision into our country believe in this statement. Ignore the spiritual and peace will be found on Earth. This is what John Lennon taught in his song Imagine and it is the anthem of those seeking to bring the socialist vision. You cannot ignore the spiritual, for when you do, you actually fall into a lower spirituality. This is what people do not understand. Paul and Peter lived in a time where no one ignored the spiritual. The Romans were neither Christians nor Jews, but they were pagans who practiced nature religions. They understood the spiritual in some form. Not to the level of the saints they imprisoned, but they did understand it to some form.

Peter and Paul show us the true spirituality, the way of peace by seeking to do the will of God in Jesus Christ.

The two saints not only understood the spiritual, they understood the urgency of it. Both saw that the world was filled with a corrupting spirituality that would bring the end of that which humanity held dear. They knew that Jerusalem was going to fall and with it the entire Jewish state. They knew in time that Rome in all its mighty power would fall and indeed the fall of Rome which took centuries began in the first century A.D.

They knew eternal life was not only a promise, it was the only future. Nothing here that does not have a foundation in the Kingdom of God will last over time. Humanity will fall back into a negative spirituality that will be its destruction no matter how strong the political structure becomes.

This is why their evangelism was so urgent and this is why our evangelism is urgent as well.

Why is Iraq falling, we succeeded in so much in that nation, because ultimately it is a spiritual battle that is at the bottom of conflict and we did not fight it at that level. We are fighting a spirituality that seeks the destruction of its material enemies. We even have a hard time understanding this because our spirituality rejects this concept.

If you read the New Testament, you will see that both Peter and Paul warn that the world was falling into its own decay and the only salvation if to seek Christ. That is the solution for all times. Seek Christ and you will find Him and the life He promises. This was the urgent message that St. Peter and Paul preached in all their writings.

Many times we miss how much our lives are influenced by our spirituality and at the same time that one cannot live without spirituality, even atheists have a spirituality that they do not understand and will never admit. That is because we are  spiritual beings as well as corporeal.

Sts. Peter and Paul understood that the need to lead people to Christ because they understood this dynamic and saw the destruction that was imminent in their own people who ignored this foundation of truth.

How much do you understand that your spirituality affects you? How much are you in touch with Christ? How about your family and friends? Many will reject their Catholic roots, but only means they fall into a spirituality that is less their choice but it is still there. Our role is to lead people to experience the spirituality that leads to life and life to the full, the life of Christ that saints Peter and Paul taught.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find at his website. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts on Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook