By REY FLORES
Redeemed by Grace — A Catholic Woman’s Journey to Planned Parenthood and Back by Ramona Trevino with Roxane Salonen. Ignatius Press: 2015; hardcover, $17.95; 157 pages. To order, visit ignatius.com or call 1-800-651-1531.
Almost anyone who is either Catholic or involved in the pro-life cause has heard of Abby Johnson. Johnson, of course, has gained national attention as a former Planned Parenthood manager who now runs And Then There Were None, an organization she founded to help other abortion industry workers leave that industry and find not only redemption but a new job as well.
While Johnson’s story is an important and compelling one, she is not alone. There are additional brave women who have followed in Johnson’s footsteps — this, thankfully, makes our cause stronger and the abortion industry weaker.
Redeemed by Grace is a terrific book which introduces us to Ramona Trevino, also a former Planned Parenthood employee, who did what she did because, like many other abortion industry workers, Trevino truly thought that she was helping women in crisis.
Trevino’s story starts when she was a little girl. Like many of us, she was raised Catholic, but somehow lost her way from the Church. Later, as a 16-year-old girl, she got pregnant and proceeded to do what she thought was the next natural thing to do and got married.
Thinking that she was now a wife and a mother and all would work itself out as such things do, Ramona did not expect to find herself in an abusive marriage, with her husband beating her and cheating on her, and creating an environment that only served to make Ramona feel worse about herself.
After finally escaping the abuse, Ramona still had the responsibility to raise her daughter and provide for her, but she had some soul searching to do and more battles to fight before she could find God again and the much-needed faith that guides her life today.
I could tell you Ramona’s story in this review, but then you wouldn’t need to read the book. I suggest that you do read the book because Ramona’s story is Ramona’s to tell, not mine. What I can do is assure you that Redeemed by Grace is definitely a book that belongs on every Catholic pro-lifer’s bookshelf.
It takes courage for a person to confront life’s adversities, whether it is abuse inflicted by another or by oneself through reckless living, and to overcome the false belief that we aren’t worthy of God’s love. It takes even more courage to tell that story in public and publish an entire book about it.
But it is not all about Ramona’s struggle. This book also tells the story of a woman rediscovering herself, rediscovering her faith, and finding that she was surrounded by a loving family and a pro-life community who welcomed her. Above all she realized that God had never abandoned her.
I first heard Ramona speak in her native Texas a few years back at a Hispanic pro-life conference organized by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. She pretty much gave the condensed version of this book in a 45-minute talk, but it was a powerful presentation where I found myself laughing, crying, and glad that I had attended.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about God’s real miracles in our world.
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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