On this Easter Sunday, I’d like to ask one deceptively simple question: Who were the apostles? As a child in Sunday school, I dimly lumped the apostles and disciples together. But that’s too neat.

The apostles were an odd conglomeration of men whom Jesus chose not for their intellects or influence but for their loyalty and ability to learn. There were numerous disciples, or students, but only ...

Jesus called the disciples to follow him and to place everything, without reserve, in the service of the reign of God. But does that mean he wanted to call all Israel to discipleship? Was it his goal ...

Q. In Matthew 10:1 twelve men are called Jesus’ disciples, but in the next verse they are called apostles. What’s the difference? Jane Jahn, Yorktown, Va. A. Most of the time there is no difference; ...

With St. Matthias, we encounter an important dimension of the Church, one of her four “notes” (“one, holy, catholic, and apostolic”): apostolicity. It is clear from Jesus’ three years of public ...

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Find today’s readings here. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. There’s an incredibly tender—even intimate—moment in today’s Gospel. I must have read it ...

Was it St. Peter the greatest of Jesus' original Twelve disciples? St. Peter is certainly the most commonly mentioned of the original Twelve. He always stands at the head of the list whenever the ...

Judas Iscariot is famous for being a disciple of Jesus who betrayed him in exchange for money. Of the 12 disciples of Jesus, "only Peter gets more lines of coverage from the Gospel writers than does ...