The Pat and Barb Verly family and their 5 children, in laws and grandkids along with many prayer warriors have been drawn together by John's cancer... sharing daily for 8 months started this blog- Family Soul Story - Our faith, family, farm and now our cancer journey called HEALING have colored and deepened our world. WE continue to share and depend on the support of our prayer warrior community, that has lowered us into the Lord's presence for His healing!
Nancy and Bill's book of black Saints!/"I tell everyone to listen to Catholic Sprouts!"/"May Jesus... possess our hearts forever."
Nancy and 5 month old ine here 4 years ago from KC to see her grandma Ann one last time as she was leaving this world after close to 2 years on hospice in her wonderful home!
Nancy with her wonderful grandma Ann, who died less than a week later. This great woman was a huge part of Nancy's carrying forth to the world her Catholic Faith!
Attending the funeral of another friend/farmwoman of mom's yesterday. I was approached by some of the family speaking words of thanks for Nancy's daily podcast for families...Catholic Sprouts! "I tell everyone to listen to Catholic Sprouts each day!"
I see that Nancy's love and devotion to family sharing our Faith with JOY comes from not only our domestic Church, but also from her close and loving time with her grandma Ann.
There is excitement in the air around Nancy and Bill's work to promote The Church! Since the world's reaction to resent events leading to many riots for Black lives to matter... Nancy saw the need to have a book devoted to black saints as models to those that have been made to feel less due to their appearance!
Nancy's words...
As you might know, we launched our newest book, Saints Like Me: Great Black Catholic, earlier this week, and it's time I give you a little bit of background on this important product.
So, journey with me all the way back to early summer 2020.
In the midst of a pandemic, George Floyd was killed just blocks from a school I taught at for years...and then cities started to burn. What a terrible time. So much fear and division and violence, much of which is still circling in the air...and yet God was there in the midst of it, as He always is.
Out of that hard time, we started to hear the voices of Black Catholics who were ready to share some hard truths with us, hopeful that this time we would hear.
It was a time for us all to stop and reflect. I personally felt overwhelmed and helpless as I listened to stories of racism in our Church. And then, I stumbled upon an IG Story from Ike Ndolo. Ike is an incredible Catholic musician. He lead worship at the Blessed Is She Retreat I attended in February (seriously, he's incredible, and the BIS retreat was a true spiritual experience. GO TO ONE!)
Ike grew up Catholic and was very involved in the Church all through his life...and yet he shared that as a child he didn't know that there were any Black Saints. He came to this conclusion because he ever saw depictions of black saints in churches or anthologies of the saints. And so, he assumed that sainthood was out of reach for him as well. God simply didn't call people that looked like him to holiness.
Just let that sink in. He grew up thinking that because of the way he looked, he couldn't be a saint.
Doesn't that make you heart sink? The fact that a child, any child, would assume that because they have never seen a saint that looks like them, they aren't called to be a saint.
Satan and his terrible lies!
Ike spoke about this as a trauma that he was still recovering from.
And so, with fresh eyes I began to investigate my own Church. Although my church is incredibly beautiful, all of the statues and stained-glass portraits at my parish white...very white in fact.
And then I started to search through the stacks of Saint Books we own (we own many many!) and besides a token saint of color (usually St. ine Bakhita) Black Saints were basically missing.
And so, determined to be changed by what we experienced in the early summer of 2020, I decided that this specific problem, that some children might not be aware that SAINTS LOOK LIKE THEM TOO, my friend Maia and I got to work planning a book that features Great Black Catholics.
The book features 10 incredible Black Catholics. Here's the all star list:
St. Felicity
St. Moses the Black
St. Martin de Pores
Venerable Henriette DeLille
Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo
Venerable Augustus Tolton
St. Charles Lwanga
St. in Bakhita
Blessed Benedict Daswa
Our Lady of Kibeho
And because we wanted children to know that these saints were real people, we worked hard to create realistic, beautiful images of each one.
We created this book for ALL CATHOLICS because holiness is a universal call.
No matter what color skin they have, the children you love need to see Black Catholics so that they know for certain that God calls us all to be saints.
We hope that this book allows you to marvel at the great diversity of saints in heaven and know that whoever you are, wherever you are from, God is calling you to be a saint as well.
All you holy men and women, pray for us!
In Christ,
Nancy and Bill
John 4 years ago with the new baby girls - Evangeline and ine. A few days later Nancy came from KC to see her grandma Ann Verly, who was dying on hospice...
On this day in 2016, Nancy with Berna, Luke and Rose at the bedside of her beloved grandma Ann just a few days before she left this world after almost 2 years on hospice.
Pat and I just attended the funeral mass of one of his mother's closest friends, Emma. Each of them a farmwoman from day 1, and each raising 10 and 11 children on the farm. I see my girls all love their lives growing up on the farm, and are open to life and raising lights for this world!
In morning prayer this morning from dad... Every time Psalm 117 would come along he would say; "Ah, the two line Psalm 117!" Today he pointed it out to me once again with the Psalm prayer for all of his loved ones... "May Jesus, possess our hearts for ever."
I am lifted up by my father still and by the faith he gave to me with the gift of coming into The Church 49 years ago! My father definitely had a bearing on Nancy and Bill's ministry also! As he and mother were passing especially I recall John speaking to them the gratitude we all have in our family for his listening to the Holy Spirit and saying "yes" to swimming against the tide and coming into The True Church as Vatican 2 was happening. "Thank you grandpa for bringing your family into The Church." The tears roll even now at the memory of how much this means to me and my family now growing to 31 in the spring! Sharing our Faith as a family is the life-blood which pumps in our hearts beating with LOVE for Jesus and His Bride, The Church!
A planter from us for our friends and mom's friend now gone 4 years later at almost the same time - during Advent - we await the coming of our Lord in the Nativity and at the end of time and when we pass out of this world and on into LIFE everlasting with Jesus, Mary and all the saints!
Jesus, how we are longing to always be close to you on this journey of Faith/Family/Farm/Friends. May we die to self so that you may live in us! How we long to love and serve you without counting the cost. We saw such an example of that with our parents and how they loved you, Jesus and your Church. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
4 years ago here to say their final goodbyes to Pat's mother!
"Let the little children come to me." Pat and his mother love ALL LIFE and little children are their joy! The love I have for this man is very much enhanced when I see him with the little ones! Bless-bless, Barbara... 4 years ago, she died on Gaudete Sunday - December 11th peacefully with her children around her!
LIFE is a gift and is to be protected and cherished from conception to natural death! Hear our prayers, Holy Mary the mother of God!
Gregorian chants for Advent Bach's Advent Cantatas
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