Fr. John R. Donahue, S.J., S.T.L. , Ph.D. is the Raymond E. Brown, Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies (Emeritus) St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD, and is presently Research Professor in Theology at Loyola University Maryland. Fr. Donahue is past President of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, and has served on national and international ecumenical dialogues. He earned his Ph.L and MA degrees at Fordham University and studied theology at Woodstock College in Maryland, where he received the S.T.L. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Chicago, with a doctoral thesis on the Gospel of Mark. Fr. Donahue published three volumes of commentaries on the Sunday Readings one of which won First Place in Professional Books from The Catholic Press Association. Other books include The Gospel of Mark, Are You the Christ: The Trial Narrative in the Gospel of Mark, Theology and Setting of Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark, What Does the Lord Require: A Bibliographical Essay on the Bible and Social Justice, The Gospel in Parable: Metaphor, Narrative and Theology in the Gospel of Mark. From 1998-2001, he wrote the weekly "Word" column for America Magazine.