It was not just the arguments—"It was the witness"

Phil Lawler, who knew Ruth Pakaluk, reviews the recently published The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God: The Story of Ruth Pakaluk: Covert, Mother, Pro-life Activist, edited by Michael Pakaluk:

Still, there are many effective pro-life activists. To appreciate the power of Ruth's influence, you had to know the woman. That's the purpose of this book: to offer readers an introduction to an amazing life. The decision to do so by collecting her letters was a wise one.

The first letters are light and chatty. She mentions, but does not dwell upon, her entry into the Catholic Church and her growing determination to fight for the dignity of human life. More often, the young Ruth tells correspondents about the weather, her domestic projects, the meals she has cooked and hikes she has taken: the quotidian life of a grad-student's wife. Yes, the correspondence is fluffy. But gradually the reader gains a sense of the personality behind these letters.

Then, as the months and the pages pass by, the letters take on a more serious tone. For this reader, the turning point in the book came with one letter in which Ruth lowered the boom on a young priest who had criticized her. She was not shy about confronting the clergy, and her own bishop felt the sting of her rebukes. (To his credit, Bishop Daniel Reilly hired Ruth as his diocesan pro-life coordinator despite their differences, and he joins in the chorus of praise with a back-cover blurb for this book.)

The relentless progress of cancer also give a more serious tone to the later pages of the book. Ruth talks candidly about her disease, her flagging strength, her worries for her husband and children. What's missing from the book is any sign that she worried about her own future; she expresses the calm confidence of a daughter of God, looking forward to coming home.

The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God concludes with a series of Ruth's public talks. These are careful, logical presentations, delivered in a tone quite different from her breezy correspondence with friends. The arguments are solid, the rhetoric is persuasive. Yet by this point, at the end of the book, the reader should realize that it was not just the arguments that won over so many audiences. It was the witness.

Read the entire piece on CatholicCulture.org.

• I Invite You to Meet A Warrior for Life | Peter Kreeft | The Introduction to The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God: The Story of Ruth Pakaluk: Covert, Mother, Pro-life Activist.