Heroic Moments

Dear TLI family,

This week, I want to talk about heroism. You may have read in the National Catholic Register about Matt Anthony and Matt Schoenecker, who on June 18, 2025, jumped into the freezing waters beneath a waterfall attempting to rescue Val Creus. The three deceased men were celibate members of Opus Dei, known as numeraries.

A little over a year has passed since the tragic incident, and Schoenecker and Anthony have been recognized posthumously by receiving the Carnegie Medal for heroism.

I knew two of the three men. Matt Schoenecker had led several summer camps for boys, which were attended by both of my sons. In turn, Val Creus had been the director of several annual retreats for men that I attended in Southern California. I couldn’t say that I had the privilege of being a close friend. But I thought highly of them.

Something that left a lasting impression on me was the selfless dedication with which Matt, Val, and really every other numerary I know lives their life. They gave up the vocation I embraced, being a husband to a beautiful woman and a biological father, to dedicate their entire lives to seeking holiness by tending to the souls of other men. They said yes to a different, yet likewise heroic, vocation.

Mind you, theirs was not some strange, secluded lifestyle in a monastery up in some mountain. Matt, Matt, and Val lived ordinary lives, in the midst of this crazy world we inhabit. They went to work every day. They paid bills. They dealt with traffic commutes, spreadsheets, polarized politics, pollution, inflation, and everything else we know. Yet during their off-hours, the time most people reserve for themselves, they poured themselves into serving others.

I remember the passion with which Matt Schoenecker led every summer camp, and how well he connected with the boys, leveraging every opportunity to inspire in their soul a thirst for the supernatural, a thirst for God. My boys had a lot of fun during those summer camps. And even if they still have not realized it, learned some profound lessons about what it means to be a man and to live a life well-lived.

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I remember the last men’s retreat I attended in Los Angeles, which was led by Val. As he gave us some parting advice—'buy your wife some flowers!'—I felt a profound sense of gratitude for these men who after the retreat were not going home to a wife and children like me, ready to welcome them with open arms. They were indeed going back to their family, in a house inhabited by other men, who, like them, have felt called to a different vocation inspired by a sacrificial love that I can only imitate imperfectly.

On that last retreat, led by Val, I did express my gratitude to another numerary. I remember saying, “Thank you for your vocation,” and giving him a hug.

I heard that one of the men who lived with Val remembers him asking, with a certain persistence on the days before his passing, “do you need anything?” Now, I have prayed to Val for his intersession on a few occasions. Because I know that’s the type of guy he was, always interested first on the needs of others.

Essential to the spirituality of Opus Dei is something we refer to as the heroic minute. I know many people can explain it more poetically than I can. But to me, a heroic minute is simply one of those endless opportunities every day presents to each of us to do the right thing, to do what that moment calls us to do. It starts at the beginning of the day by resisting the temptation to hit the snooze button and getting up on time. We all know, how the Lord rewards us when we act heroically on that first minute of the day. But the truth is each day is filled with heroic moments.

In the end, the heroic act of Matt and Matt while trying to rescue Val last year was only the last manifestation of the heroic lives these three men lived. And they have so many men, young and old, as witness of it. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

May we too say yes to the invitation to be heroic every minute of our lives. Most of us, will not be called to jump into the freezing waters of a waterfall to rescue someone. But indistinguishable from the other threads that make up the fabric of life, we will always have endless moments in our life that call for authentic Christian heroism.

Sincerely yours in Christ and Our Lady of Guadalupe,

Cristofer Pereyra

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