The sight of religious sisters around the neighborhood may be unfamiliar to many Catholic youngsters these days, but Mother Clare Matthiass, CFR, is hoping to change that with the debut of “The Unsolvable Problem,” her first book in a new series titled “Little Convent in the Big City.”
Set in an inner-city New York neighborhood, the 32-page book, out from Vianney Vocations at $17 soft cover and $24 hardcover, is for children ages 4-12. Drawn from real life experiences of Mother Clare, General Servant (Superior) of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in New York City, the book features illustrations by noted Catholic artist Michael Corsini.
It was while working in vocations that “I met a young woman who was visiting the community who had gone to Catholic school her whole life and went on to study at a Catholic university,” Mother Clare explained. “While there, she began a more personal [faith] journey. As her prayer life increased, she began to discern a call [to religious life]. Her immediate response was, ‘How can you be calling me to something that doesn’t even exist anymore?’
“When she shared that, I felt a real impact. If even a Catholic girl was so unaware [of religious life] because she had not encountered anyone … it lit a fire that inspired so much of the work I do now. We’ve got to let more children know about religious life,” Mother Clare said, both what it is and what it offers.
The book and the series are part of her ongoing effort to do just that. “It’s a way to create characters and stories that are interesting and engaging,” she said, adding, “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the characters were sisters, and we could introduce them [children] to religious life that way?”
On a recent Wednesday morning, Mother Clare traveled from New York to Atlantic City to read “The Unsolvable Problem” to first-, second- and third-graders at Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School while also visiting the CFR sisters who minster in the city. She said “the kids were delighted” with the story, which is based on a true experience that happened in New York City just before a recent Fourth of July.
“Kids love being read to,” she said. “When I engaged them and asked them questions, they were very enthusiastic.”
The response to hearing the book and seeing its illustrations, which show the CFR sisters wearing habits and the inner-city neighborhood in which they live, made it clear that the children enjoyed the subject and this “doorway into religious life.”
Such was the reaction Mother Clare was hoping for when she penned this series debut, hopefully the first in a long line of books about Mother Mary Andy and her band of sisters. In this first installment, the sisters receive help from two mysterious strangers in securing a key ingredient needed to complete the menu of their Fourth of July celebration for the neighborhood.
Non-spoiler alert: The book includes a kid-friendly explanation of the Eucharist, a bit of miraculous intervention and a recipe for root beer floats.
A member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal since 1998, Mother Clare is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where she studied theology and history. She is the author of “Discerning Religious Life” and the “Avow” small group discussion program. She has served in the past as formation director for candidates and postulants, and as vocation directress. It was during her ministry in vocations that she first felt called to introduce young people to religious life.
After conceptualizing “Little Convent in the Big City,” Mother Clare said it wasn’t long until Vianney Vocations, which focuses exclusively on boosting vocations, was on board. She hopes “The Unsolvable Problem” will start appearing in schools, parishes and homes.
Vianney Vocations offers a program in which an organization can adopt a grade and sponsor school or religious education classrooms and send copies of the first book so that every student can bring one home, she noted.
“We can’t be in every school and home parish,” she said, “but the book can be and it can be a way to introduce children to religious life.”
Find the book at Vianney Vocations at vianneyvocations.com.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
