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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.

Cookies for dinner

February 24, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Often what I’m asking for isn’t what I need, but the equivalent of a chocolate chip cookie for dinner.

The dog who could read (but didn’t know how to find her way home)

February 23, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Once upon a time there was a dog. She broke free from her yard and went exploring.

Snow days, packing lunches, veggie tray creations, and possible summer destinations (7 Quick Takes)

February 22, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

You have to love a snow day that falls on a Wednesday. I mean, you don’t have to, but I enjoyed having a day off in the middle of the week.

You know you’re lucky when…

February 19, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

There are so many things that people say are lucky. There are horseshoes, four-leaf clovers, and rabbit’s feet, of course. Then there’s walking through a spiderweb, getting hit with bird excrement, and rain on your wedding day.

Ice and snow, last-minute Valentine’s Day cards, pickle opinions, and a poem for you (7 Quick Takes)

February 15, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

One morning I went out to start the car and realized it was encased in ice. I tried to open the door to turn on the engine and start defrosting the windows, but I couldn’t get it open.

When you throw a pig party for Chinese New Year

February 11, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

When we first started celebrating the Chinese New Year, we put a plastic toy tiger on a cake, sliced the cake with a few cousins, and called it a party.

Father Pedro Arrupe, Chinese New Year celebrations, a fiery feta dip, and a lesson in humility (7 Quick Takes)

February 7, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Do you know Pedro Arrupe? He was a Spanish Jesuit, and he served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Year of the Pig!

February 4, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

The Year of the Pig, which begins today, comes every 12 years, so I’ve lived through a couple of them. But this is the first one I’ve celebrated.

Find extraordinary in the ordinary

February 4, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Commentary, The Domestic Church

We can encounter God in the awesome majesty of a mountaintop sunrise or a scrunched bouquet of dandelion’s in a child’s fist.

Snow day art projects, spaghetti for dinner, pigs for Chinese New Year, prayer cards, and dip (7 Quick Takes)

February 1, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

It has been cold this week, though not as cold as it has been in some parts of the country. I couldn’t make outdoor play possible every day, but we did have scissors and colored paper.

Crossing a bridge

January 30, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

There’s something about the Bay Bridge.

Let the little children come to Mass

January 29, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Children at Mass aren’t Catholics in training. They are Catholics. They are already members of our community. As one of our favorite priests once said, “Children aren’t the future of the Church. They are the Church.”

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