To Archbishop Perez & Cardinal Tobin, re: Catholic Relief Services
My Friends Art & Jim, RIP
I do not know if my friends Art Mattei (1940 - 2021) and Jim Snow (1956 - 2024) ever met, but these devout Catholics have uncanny similiarities in their bios:
- Originally from Our Lady Help of Christians in Brooklyn
- Graduated from prestigious Regis High School
- Went to Jesuit colleges
- Buried from St Paul in Princeton
Art
For more than 20 years, I have been part of a pro life prayer witness in Trenton, New Jersey. It has been rare to ever be joined by a priest, deacon, religious sister or diocesan official. Yet in his healthier days, Art would often do double duty at Mercer prayer witnesses.Few could rival Art's commitment to the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage/family. His email updates resembled more the style of Saint Jerome, than anything touchy-feely! People who feverishly support Catholic teaching are subject to sideline criticism from those who are far less committed:
YOU have no enemies, you say?Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;He who has mingled in the frayOf duty, that the brave endure,Must have made foes! If you have none,Small is the work that you have done.You've hit no traitor on the hip,You've dashed no cup from perjured lip,You've never turned the wrong to right,You've been a coward in the fight. (Charles McKay)
Jim
I had not been in touch with Jim since 1978 at Fordham. Though he was a couple of years older, we were in at least one class together. He was 10,000 times more studious than I. We both commuted to the Bronx from Brooklyn on the good old D train.
Even as a young guy, Jim seemed highly unlikely to be taken in by any nonsense. He seemed like a true gentleman and scholar.
After his death, I learned that Jim had been an Opus Dei numerary - a laymen living a celibate life.
Conclusion
I ask for the prayers of both these holy men for the good of our world.
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About the Author
Joe Tevington is a proudly orthodox Catholic, a husband since 1986, a dad to two married adult children, a grandpa to two, and a civil service retiree. He is a sign language fluent certified rehabilitation counselor with graduate degrees in deafness rehabilitation, religious studies/moral theology, & Christian counseling psychology, as well as a catechetical diploma and certificates in benefits planning and Catholic social ministry. He deeply appreciates Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the transmission of human life, as well as how they are to inform us in our apostolates and ministries.
On much lighter notes, he fancies himself to be the foremost authority on his native Brooklyn, when it comes to architecture, geography, history, Italian food, Saturday Night Fever, stick ball, stoop ball, or wiffle ball.
