• 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

Try to see the love

March 22, 2022
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Lent, Open Window

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

It’s still Lent. By this point in the journey, I am not as enthusiastic about Lent as I was back on Ash Wednesday. The novelty is wearing off a bit. But this Lent, I keep thinking back to the penance I received when I went to my most recent Confession.

Go home and find a crucifix, the priest said. Sit and hold it and really look at it.

You’ll see the suffering, of course, he said. But try to see the love.

I did that as my penance, and I was struck by the beauty of his directions. Because it’s easy to see the suffering on the crucifix. The agony and pain and the enormity of what Jesus took on are all so clear.

But even though we know Jesus loves us, and we know he suffered and died because He loves us, that’s not always as obvious. We might need to look at the wounds and endurance to see it, or we might need to look beyond them.

Even when it’s not Lent, I keep a small crucifix on my kitchen windowsill, where I can look at Jesus while I’m washing dishes. Now and then, I’ve been taking it down, holding it in my hand, and looking for the love.

Jesus loves me so much. He loves you so much. He suffered and died for each of us—and He did it out of love.

When I was sharing this with my sister Treasa, she told me the story of how Matisse asked Renoir why he kept painting even though he was in physical pain, and Renoir said, “The pain passes but the beauty remains.”

The pain passes but the beauty remains. The suffering is there, but so is the love.

As Lent continues, and I fall many more than the three times Jesus did on the way to the cross, I find myself thinking that this might not look like the perfect Lent. But there is so much love, everywhere we turn, in the people we encounter, and in the way Jesus walks with us every day.

Copyright © 2022 Catholic Review Media

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 |

Artificial Intelligence, wholeism and prayer

Question Corner: Does reception of the Eucharist replace confession?

A butterfly lands on a flowering bush with purple blossoms

A Miracle for a Baby in Rhode Island (and for all of us)

Kids need lots of people who love them

Painting of Martha and Mary during their visit with Jesus

A parenting lesson in the Mary and Martha story

| Recent Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| 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

  • Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says
  • Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants
  • Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9
  • Ireland’s abortion rates rise 62 percent over 5 years; Catholic advocates call it ‘a tragedy’
  • Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz
  • Movie Review: ‘Smurfs’
  • Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis will be in Rome for Jubilee
  • Artificial Intelligence, wholeism and prayer

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