• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
        • CR for Kids
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Shop
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
        • Subscribe
  • Advertising
  • Kids
  • Radio/Podcasts
        • Catholic Review Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
        • In God’s Image
        • “In Charity and Truth” with Archbishop William E. Lori
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

A letter to my godson

March 22, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, The Domestic Church

When you love God and recognize that he’s given you a role on earth that is just for you to do, you’ll find he helps you achieve things for him that seem almost impossible.

Shamrocks, soda bread, and two dates for mom and dad (7 Quick Takes)

March 19, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

This year I decided we should have something Irish for our door.

The world begins today

March 15, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

It started as an ordinary enough day. I was just starting the workday at my office when my phone rang. My new nephew had been born!

Bee is for Buettner, babies, and bananas (7 Quick Takes)

March 12, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

When I put dinner on the table, I told my children that I bought the placemats because “bee is for Buettner.”

Two years later, a double-dip feeling

March 9, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

This week, as we find ourselves marking the second anniversary of the day schools—and the world—shut down, I find my mind wandering back to March 2020. Our world turned upside-down.

Our Lenten prayer basket, a hole-y surprise, and a nice number of bananas (7 Quick Takes)

March 6, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

I love having a prayer basket for Lent. I don’t know why pulling an intention out of a basket feels so ceremonial and important, but it does.

Welcome to Lent

March 2, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

Two years ago, on Ash Wednesday, we went to Mass as a family. It was a beautiful service on what was otherwise a relatively ordinary winter day.

Fondue for dinner, an ice storm, and general musings (7 Quick Takes)

February 27, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

~1~ Sometimes when I run out of ideas for dinner, we make fondue. It requires a little prep—cutting up vegetables and meats and preparing the broth, but then John takes over the pot and handles the cooking. It always feels fancy and special, but there are never leftovers. I wonder whether people will expect dinner […]

Making the most of the journey

February 23, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window, Uncategorized

This weekend, my sons and I road-tripped to New York to see my sister Maureen and her three youngest children. Spending eight hours on the road for about 36 hours together might seem a little intense, but I would drive further than that for the chance to hug my sister. We had a fantastic weekend. […]

Surprise! A birthday road trip with Shamrock Shakes (7 Quick Takes)

February 19, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

One of my favorite writing techniques is to give myself a designated period of time to write and see how quickly I can go. I am currently racing to complete these quick takes before my sister Maureen and niece finish baking brownies for my nephew who turns 13 today. Here we go! ~1~ We are […]

Trying to catch the bus

February 16, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

We’ve never missed the bus, but we’ve come close.

Daisies for the window, ripe bananas, and a special moment at Mass (7 Quick Takes)

February 13, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

The other day while I was grocery shopping alone, I saw a sweet pot of daisies.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 28
  • Page 29
  • Page 30
  • Page 31
  • Page 32
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 87
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Catholic group helps parishes to share a table with the poor, following pope’s example
  • Sexual ethics is social ethics
  • US Franciscans appeal for help in ending Israeli settler violence against Christians
  • Capuchin Franciscan Father William Graham remembered for pastoral presence to those seeking annulments
  • Exhibit highlights St. John Paul II’s US visits, esteem for nation’s foundational documents
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on the horizon
  • Howard County parish explores patriotism’s Catholic roots for America’s 250th 
  • Question Corner: Why are SSPX confessions invalid?
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71; SC governor selects his sister to finish his term

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2026 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED