Today’s Gospel comes in two sizes: the short version (Matthew 4:12-17) and the long version (Matthew 4:12-23). I strongly encourage priests to add the extra 45 seconds and use the long version. There ...

Each year, during the first weeks of Ordinary Time, the Church devotes attention to the call of the Apostles. Jesus has a variety of disciples but the Apostles — the 12 men called by Christ — hold a ...

A Saint (Mark?) Reading, a painting by Bartolomeo Vivarini at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, circa 1470 (Wikimedia Commons). Why does Jesus rebuke Peter, admonishing him to “Get behind me, Satan”?

Painting by Johann Georg Trautmann depicting Jesus appearing before Caiphus (middle-right), and Peter denying that he knew Jesus (bottom left). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. “Get behind me, Satan.” ...