• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • 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
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

Why I love my Catholic faith

June 21, 2017
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

About a week after I graduated from college, a few friends and I traveled to Rome. I had majored in Latin, so walking the streets of Rome brought so much of the Classical world to life. I would stop and stare at a column or statue tucked into an alleyway, marveling at how the Romans were passing without any apparent interest.Then I went to Vatican City. And I realized that Rome was not only full of history and a thrilling ancient beauty, but that entering the Vatican felt like coming home. I stood in awe inside St. Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel, letting myself be surrounded by the historic beauty of the church, moved by the art and architecture that celebrated my faith.

Our first Sunday there my friends and I filled our backpacks with our usual bread, cheese, and water for the day and went looking for a Mass to attend. We wandered into St. Peter’s Square and found it packed with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.

We had no tickets to enter, but a frustrated security guard finally shrugged his shoulders at these clueless American kids who didn’t speak Italian and let us in.

We never did find out the reason for that large Mass, but we stayed, standing shoulder to shoulder with people who shared our faith but not our language. We peered over the crowd and prayed together as Pope John Paul II celebrated the Mass in front of St. Peter’s.

As Communion approached, I found myself thinking that there was no way we could possibly receive Communion in this sea of strangers. Yet somehow extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, deacons, and priests threaded paths through the crowd and brought Jesus to each one of us.

I was just one person in that enormous crowd, and I felt so small. But Jesus sought me out in that group—me, a 21-year-old who was far from home, a recent college graduate with no job and uncertain plans for the future. Jesus showed me, as He has so many times in my life, that I am His and He is mine.

I love being His. I love that I have opportunities through the Eucharist and Confession to connect more deeply with Jesus all the time.

I love that as Catholics we can go to any Mass anywhere in the world and—even if it’s in another language, it’s the same.

I love the beauty of our faith, the statues and the symbols, the bells and the candles, the holy water and the music.

I love the colors and tones of the liturgical seasons, Lent and Easter, Advent and Christmas, and even Ordinary Time. Especially Ordinary Time.

I love that we are on this journey together with those who are living and those who have gone before us. I love the communion of saints. I love that during the Consecration heaven and earth are joined in a way I accept and yet struggle to explain well to my children.

I love that my Catholic faith challenges me, encourages me, stretches me, comforts me, and pushes me to be more than I think I can be.

I didn’t choose to be Catholic—not at first. My parents chose that for me when I was a baby. But, of course, I chose for myself at my Confirmation. I chose again when my husband and I promised to raise our children in the Catholic Church on our wedding day. I chose yet again on the days our children were baptized. And today, as my husband and I share our faith with our children, I hope they will also see it as a gift.

Joining a group of other Catholic women bloggers to celebrate our love for our Catholic faith.

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Rita Buettner

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Mahmoud v. Taylor: A Supreme Court victory for parents, freedom

How and why to laugh like a saint

Question Corner: Can we bring the Precious Blood to the sick?

Impact of DOGE cuts on migrants, refugees

Remember common decency in immigration enforcement

| Recent Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

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

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack
  • Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served
  • Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says
  • Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza
  • School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others
  • Top Republican appears to walk back probe of Catholic entities amid charged committee hearing
  • Mahmoud v. Taylor: A Supreme Court victory for parents, freedom
  • Church leaders, faithful in procession to Detroit ICE office call for just immigration policies

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en