An Interview with the creator of the Very Young Catholic Project

We are so excited to have the Very Young Catholic Project at Holy Heroes!

We sat down with Emily Koczela, the author behind the Very Young Catholic Project to hear how she created this amazing series!

What inspired you to create this series?

Evangelism has two phases. In one, we reach out to people who do not believe. But in the second, we reach out to believers to help them keep their courage up over the long haul. That’s where these books come in.

I thought that if I wrote a book for every time zone of the world – all 24 – showing friendly Catholic kids all living different lives, but having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of us all, it would help everyone realize the breadth and the depth of God’s presence among us.

Despite the many things that we get wrong as people and as a church, we have succeeded in two specific things. First, while instituting the Eucharist, Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” and I am bearing witness that every single Sunday, all over the world, we show up and honor that command.

Second, I am bearing witness that we have fulfilled when Jesus said, “Go and teach all nations.” The Catholic Church is an amazing institution, and faithful people have been working away for centuries so when I go looking for a Catholic parish in remote and difficult places in the world, I find one.

Tiny villages in West Africa? Check.

Easter Island? Check.

Antarctica? Check.

Northern Canada? Check.

Kyrgyzstan? Micronesia? Mongolia??? Check. Check. Check.

There is a line in one version of the Eucharistic Prayer that says, “You never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.” This series is making this truth vivid.

What has been your favorite part of this creative process?

It is always overwhelming to arrive in all these far-flung places of the world and find a wonderful faithful family in a lively parish, all ready to bear witness to Jesus. I pray that the Very Young Catholic Project strengthens the faith of other people, but for sure, it has strengthened mine.

I do have some rules for my creative process:

First, don’t get anybody killed. Lots of Catholics around the world are in danger at all times. I do not set a book in any country where I think that calling attention to the family’s faith may increase their peril.

Second, no country gets more than one book, no matter how big they are. That’s only fair.

And third, I’m not National Geographic. I’m writing the ordinary lives of children. I don’t schedule myself for the big events or the big tourist sites unless the children I am visiting were going to go anyway. I always go to Mass with them, of course!

What has been your favorite book so far?

I can never answer this, as my favorite is always the one I am working on at the moment I am asked! I can tell you that my husband’s favorites are Very Young Catholics in India and Very Young Catholics in Togo. At least, so far…

What country are you most looking forward to covering in the future?

On the horizon for 2023 is a sheep farm in Australia, a rural village in Thailand, and an urban neighborhood in Brazil. I’m thrilled about each of them, and they are utterly different!

There are two other crazy possibilities that I would love to write about. One is a book set at sea. The Catholic Church has a vibrant ministry to those who spend their working lives aboard ships, and also to those who travel on ships. In one part of the remote Pacific, there is hardly any inhabited land, so there aren’t many kids for me to write about. Wouldn’t it be fun to use that time zone to showcase the ministry to those at sea?

The other crazy one is Antarctica. Yes, there are children in Antarctica. There are only a few, but they are Catholic. They are at a Chilean base, and they are served by a Catholic deacon. For a long time, the Chilean borders were closed for COVID, and in any case, there are few visitors allowed at this location, but maybe…?

What is your hope for readers of this series?

In my perfect dream, a child who went to Mass after reading this series would realize that they were joining in a chain of children that stretches around the world, all saying the same Mass on that same Sunday. That reader would really grasp that the children in Fiji kicked off the Sunday at the International Date Line, and then the prayer circled onto towards other children in Australia, Taiwan, India, Kenya, Austria, Togo, Iceland, Ireland, the U.S.A., Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, and on out across the Pacific to Fiji again!

More specifically, I want the children to understand who we mean in the Catholic Church when we say “we”, or “us” or “our brothers and sisters.” How many lines of the Mass say something like “Have mercy on us” or “Grant us peace”? How many lines refer to the church around the world? Even the word at the beginning of the Our Father is OUR. When my readers see the other kids in these books, I want them to hear those lines of the prayers loud and clear.

What “words of wisdom” would you like to share with other moms, particularly those who will use this series?

You can’t teach your kids what you don’t know. Don’t ever stop learning about God. You can find lively and wonderful authors to study – you don’t have to stagger your way through 500-page theological tomes. Rumer Godden’s In This House of Brede was a big enlightenment for me, and GK Chesterton’s Father Brown series was a major force in my theological understanding.

Also, if I may say so, I have one very practical recommendation. Don’t use a different tone of voice when you talk to your kids about God. Talk to them in the same respectful and straightforward way that you talk about anything else. It is especially bad if the tone is high-pitched, or patronizing, or cutesy. It turns the whole God discussion into an Easter Bunny thing. God is amazing, interesting, and complicated. We should treat him as seriously as we would treat particle physics, and preferably more!

This is an amazing series and we hope that many Catholic families will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn about Catholics around the world!

We are offering the entire complete set at a special discounted price!