June 2025
Rome Sweet Home — Scott & Kimberly Hahn
I just finished Rome Sweet Home, given to me by my mom and concurrently recommended to me by one of my retreat brothers. I didn’t read this one during jail time — this came after, in the quiet rebuilding phase of my life. So much of what Scott and Kimberly Hahn walked through — the questions, the hunger for truth, the tension between the head and the heart — it all echoed my own journey back to the Catholic Church.
I left the Church for a time. Not in protest, not in anger — I just drifted toward what felt alive. Evangelical Christianity gave me community, energy, and a passionate love of Jesus. It gave me a personal hunger for Scripture and a sense of mission. But over time, that hunger led me home — back to the richness I’d walked away from, back to the mystery and structure of the sacraments, back to the ancient Church that Christ Himself built. And reading the Hahns’ story, I saw how Scripture and grace — not tradition alone — had led them down the same road.
Scripture Brought Me Back
Scott’s journey began with the Bible — a deep dive into covenant theology, Church history, the writings of the early Fathers. That spoke to me. I never rejected Scripture, but I didn’t always understand how Catholicism and the Bible fit together. Evangelicalism made the Bible feel alive, but it also left a hole: Who gets to interpret it? Where’s the authority?The more I dug, the more I realized that the Bible is a Catholic book — born from the Church, lived out in her teachings and liturgy, and fulfilled in the Eucharist.
That realization wasn’t academic. It was personal. I’d always longed for a deeper connection with Jesus, and now I was staring at Him in the tabernacle. This is My Body— not metaphor, not symbol, but Presence. Hahn’s rediscovery of the Eucharist, rooted in Scripture, matched my own. I didn’t come back for routine. I came back for reality.
Kimberly’s Journey Was Mine Too, in Reverse
Reading Kimberly’s struggle made me pause. Her grief as her husband moved toward Rome before she was ready — that tension of loving someone yet feeling divided over faith — reminded me of the tensions I’ve caused in others. When I left the Church, I didn’t realize how deeply that might wound the faith of people who raised me Catholic. And now, returning with joy, I can sense how healing that return is — not just for me, but for the people I love.
She also reminded me how faith isn’t just intellectual. It’s emotional, relational, sacrificial. Coming back wasn’t easy for her. It wasn’t for me either. It meant laying down pride, asking hard questions, trusting the Church where I had once doubted or dismissed. But surrender opened the door to peace. To belonging. To home.
Coming Back with Eyes Wide Open
This book doesn’t romanticize Catholicism. It shows the bumps — the doctrinal confusion, the pushback from loved ones, the cost of changing your life. But it also shows the joy. The fullness. The rightness of truth — even when it costs you something. That’s where I find myself now. I’ve come back, not because I needed to “go back” to where I started, but because I found the end of the road: the Church that has been Christ’s Body all along.
Now when I go to Mass, I go with open eyes and a full heart. I don’t just listen. I receive. I’m not just attending something ancient — I’m stepping into something eternal. And with all the brokenness and regret I’m carrying, that rootedness means everything. God didn’t just forgive me. He gave me home again.
How I Will Keep Changing Because of This
· I will stay rooted in Scripture, but trust the Church to guard and guide its interpretation.
· I will receive the Eucharist with awe and reverence, not as ritual but as reality.
· I will teach my kids the richness of the Catholic faith with joy, not obligation.
· I will love my evangelical friends, honor their fire, but remain loyal to the Church Jesus founded.
· I will live as a witness, not just a “returnee” — letting my life speak to the beauty of mercy, truth, and tradition.
Rome Sweet Home didn’t just explain theology — it gave me language for my own return. I didn’t come back because I was told to. I came back because truth brought me here. Because the sacraments hold me. Because the Church fathers and the saints and the liturgy feel like family. I’m not a guest. I’m not an outsider. I’m a son coming home — forgiven, fed, and finally grounded in something bigger than me.
And now that I’ve returned, I’m not leaving again.
