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Their Faith Has Touched Us: The Legacies of Three Young Oklahoma City Bombing Victims
'This is one of the most helpful and inspiring books we have read. If these three young adults killed in the Oklahoma bombing are examples of youth today, the future of the Catholic Church is not in doubt. Julie, Valerie, and Mark were not people of great deeds, but people who were great in their faithfulness in the ordinary events and encounters of life. This is their legacy.' ―Mark and Louise Zwick, founders and directors Casa Juan Diego, Houston Catholic Worker
219 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 3, 2008
God is not like a hunter who waits to shoot the little rabbits when they are least aware. Rather, He is like a divine gardener who picks the roses when they are in full bloom. -a college friend of Julie Welch, killed in the OKC Bombing, April 19, 1995
When we came to Oklahoma in 1998 I wanted a book to learn about the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building. Their Faith Has Touched Us moved me profoundly at the time. Maria Scaperlanda relates the terrible tragedy of the April 19 by introducing three young lives cut off that day: Mark Bolte (28), Valerie Koelsch (33) and Julie Welch (23). She tells their story through collected letters from family and friends, news stories, poetry and original writings.
Rereading this book I appreciated it even more than I did the first time because now I recognize churches and other places, individual priests (some who have passed away), etc., which meant nothing to me in ’98.
The three young people in this book were all single, much-beloved and Catholic. Their stories will haunt you. And yet for all that it isn’t a sad book so much as a tribute and a hopeful one at that. There are numerous beautiful photos of all three from their earliest years up to their last days on earth and memorials dedicated to them. Interestingly, they all were able to spend meaningful time with family within the days and weeks before they died.
In the almost 20 years since I first read Their faith has touched us, I have met so many people with their own story to tell about that fateful day. Everyone who was living here in Oklahoma City, heard and felt the explosion and has a story to tell. My church, St. Joseph Old Cathedral, had all its stain glass windows blown out except one. It was a couple of years before repairs were complete and it could be used again. A good friend, now deceased, lost her daughter in the bombing. Another friend is a survivor.
The ancient Greeks—and many others—believed that Wisdom could only be acquired from suffering, either directly from your own experience or by the emotional catharsis aroused when we empathize deeply with the suffering of others. In ancient Athens it was a civic duty for all citizens to be as actively involved with politics as possible. The democracy sought to involve its citizens because it was only through their awareness of their civic responsibility that the government would or could work. The purpose of Greek Tragedy as a cultural ‘entertainment’ form was as much religious as it was education.
Perhaps this is what draws us as well to stories like this. Hopefully so. May we indeed gain wisdom, through empathy, from the story of these three beautiful young lives lost to us, but not forever.
June 3, 2008: Found this book when we first arrived in OK in '98. We'd been living in IL when the OKC bombing occurred and although we had relatives living in OK, we didn't know all that much about the bombing. I wanted a book which told about the events from the personal, as well as big-picture perspective; I didn't even consider a book about the legacy of three of the bombing victims--a book with a hopeful and inspiring message. Their Faith Has Touched Us is about three young adults who died that April day in 1995 and how their faith-filled lives and untimely deaths affected so many people. I read it in two days, the first time.
I've loaned this book to numerous out-of-state family and friends who have visited the OKC Bombing Memorial on trips to see us. They have all liked it. Pretty amazing when you consider the subject...you wouldn't think people would say they 'like' a book such as this.
When we came to Oklahoma in 1998 I wanted a book to learn about the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building. Their Faith Has Touched Us moved me profoundly at the time. Maria Scaperlanda relates the terrible tragedy of the April 19 by introducing three young lives cut off that day: Mark Bolte (28), Valerie Koelsch (33) and Julie Welch (23). She tells their story through collected letters from family and friends, news stories, poetry and original writings.
Rereading this book I appreciated it even more than I did the first time because now I recognize churches and other places, individual priests (some who have passed away), etc., which meant nothing to me in ’98.
The three young people in this book were all single, much-beloved and Catholic. Their stories will haunt you. And yet for all that it isn’t a sad book so much as a tribute and a hopeful one at that. There are numerous beautiful photos of all three from their earliest years up to their last days on earth and memorials dedicated to them. Interestingly, they all were able to spend meaningful time with family within the days and weeks before they died.
In the almost 20 years since I first read Their faith has touched us, I have met so many people with their own story to tell about that fateful day. Everyone who was living here in Oklahoma City, heard and felt the explosion and has a story to tell. My church, St. Joseph Old Cathedral, had all its stain glass windows blown out except one. It was a couple of years before repairs were complete and it could be used again. A good friend, now deceased, lost her daughter in the bombing. Another friend is a survivor.
The ancient Greeks—and many others—believed that Wisdom could only be acquired from suffering, either directly from your own experience or by the emotional catharsis aroused when we empathize deeply with the suffering of others. In ancient Athens it was a civic duty for all citizens to be as actively involved with politics as possible. The democracy sought to involve its citizens because it was only through their awareness of their civic responsibility that the government would or could work. The purpose of Greek Tragedy as a cultural ‘entertainment’ form was as much religious as it was education.
Perhaps this is what draws us as well to stories like this. Hopefully so. May we indeed gain wisdom, through empathy, from the story of these three beautiful young lives lost to us, but not forever.
June 3, 2008: Found this book when we first arrived in OK in '98. We'd been living in IL when the OKC bombing occurred and although we had relatives living in OK, we didn't know all that much about the bombing. I wanted a book which told about the events from the personal, as well as big-picture perspective; I didn't even consider a book about the legacy of three of the bombing victims--a book with a hopeful and inspiring message. Their Faith Has Touched Us is about three young adults who died that April day in 1995 and how their faith-filled lives and untimely deaths affected so many people. I read it in two days, the first time.
I've loaned this book to numerous out-of-state family and friends who have visited the OKC Bombing Memorial on trips to see us. They have all liked it. Pretty amazing when you consider the subject...you wouldn't think people would say they 'like' a book such as this.
December 30, 2025
Cried my way through this book. it's a heavy topic so it took me a while but I'm glad I read it. Raw and important reflections on grief and faith.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews