“La Eucaristía es la fuente y la cumbre de la vida cristiana” (Lumen Gentium 11). En la última cena, Jesús compartiendo con sus apóstoles tomó el pan y luego el vino y diciendo las palabras, que también el sacerdote usa hoy para consagrar el vino y el pan, les compartió su amor y se quedó con ellos hasta el fin de los tiempos en este sacramento de la caridad. Por eso, cuando la Iglesia proclama que la Eucaristía es la fuente y cumbre de la vida cristiana, está anunciando que la Eucaristía es el modelo de entrega que los cristianos deben de tener los unos a los otros. En otras palabras, la Iglesia nos invita a vivir en una “Coher­encia Eucarística,” en la cual no solo proclamamos lo que creemos, sino que también debemos vivir lo que comulgamos en la Eucaristía, en donde se nos da el mismo Cristo hijo de Dios vivo, quien nos ha amado tanto que ha decidido permanecer con nosotros en las especies del pan y del vino.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato observed, “There is nothing so delightful as the hearing, or the speaking of truth. For this reason, there is no conversation so agreeable as that of the man of integrity, who hears without any intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to deceive.” Plato points out what we know by experience: integrity is beautiful. Encountering persons of integrity is refreshing and attempting to live a life of integrity, though challenging, is rewarding.

On May 9, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a special Nurses’ Week Mass in the chapel of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. National Nurses Week is an annual celebration in May.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Monica Parish in Sussex May 21 where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. During the Mass, the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Thomas of Aquin Parish in Ogdensburg May 22 and celebrated the noon Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. During the Mass, teenagers of the parish received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown, marked the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood with a Mass he celebrated, which was attended by parishioners, brother priests, family, and friends on May 15.

Harry Flaherty thought that he stumbled on a winning formula early in his pro football career. The Middletown native was living a life most people can only dream of having. He was making lots of money, enjoying great popularity, and playing in the NFL and the USFL. But for part of that career, Flaherty was reading from his own playbook of life — chasing his own earthly desires — and not from God’s playbook, which eventually would transform his life and make it even more fulfilling as a man living for Christ.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained Rev. Mr. Starli J. Castaños Rodríguez, a diocesan seminarian of Dominican heritage, as a transitional deacon on May 21 in his home parish, St. Anthony of Padua Church here. The Bishop urged Rev. Mr. Castaños to imitate Christ by “serving the people of God with love and joy,” while he presided over the traditional rite, which brought the seminarian a step closer to being called to ordination as a priest of the Diocese next year.