When emergency crews had spent nearly an hour trying to cut
Katie Lentz out of the mass of metal that had been her car, things were
looking grim.
The vehicle, an older model Mercedes, was made of tough stuff and had
dulled all the firefighters’ saws and other tools. Worse, Lentz was
starting to fade, fast.
But then, something that witnesses later labeled miraculous happened.
Lentz and the emergency crew prayed together, and then according to
witnesses a priest appeared, as if from nowhere. He said a prayer over
Lentz, anointed her with oil and told the emergency crew that their
tools would now work properly and everything would be all right.
“He came up and approached the patient, and offered a prayer,” New
London, Missouri, fire chief Raymond Reed said. “It was a Catholic
priest who had anointing oil with him. A sense of calmness came over
her, and it did us as well. I can’t be for certain how it was said, but
myself and another firefighter, we very plainly heard that we should
remain calm, that our tools would now work and that we would get her out
of that vehicle.”
Soon, another battalion showed up with fresh tools and the rescue
suddenly went much more easily. Lentz was freed from the wreckage and
was taken to a hospital in time to save her life.
She had multiple broken bones and is facing several surgeries, but Lentz is expected to survive.
After the emergency crew finished its work, several of the team
members looked for the priest to thank him, but he was nowhere to be
found. The highway had been blocked off for a quarter mile in each
direction, so there were no parked cars or bystanders in the area. The
priest had seemingly vanished.
As of this writing, no one has identified the priest, but as far as
Lentz’s family and other witnesses are concerned, he was an angel, flesh
and blood or otherwise.
“All along the way, her foremost request is for people to pray and to
pray out loud,” said Lentz’s mother. “We would like nothing more than
to carry that message forward for her.”
Ultimately, whether the priest was an ordinary man or an actual angel
doesn’t matter. He had a profound effect on people who needed help that
day.
Have you seen this priest? Composite sketch from witnesses’ descriptions.
That’s the way it is with miracles. They happen all the time, and you either recognize them or you don’t.
Many of us tend to fixate on the idea of miracles only involving
burning bushes, parting of the seas or raising of the dead. We think
that miracles are things that violate the natural order, but that’s not
so. A wise pastor once remarked that miracles are events that actually
represent the highest potential of the natural order, that inspire by
showing us what is possible with God.
Some people recognize what a miraculous thing life is, others can
have the entire universe laid out before them and see nothing but
random, meaningless accidents and illusions.
Disbelievers are like the fellow I encountered decades ago in an
English literature class who just didn’t get it. The teacher and
students had spent the entire class period discussing the poem “Ode to a
Grecian Urn.” It was almost time to pack up for the day, when this
fellow finally raised his hand to ask a question: “What’s a ‘green
shinern’?”
Whenever I hear someone suggest that there is no “evidence” of God’s
existence, I think of the “green shinern.” They just don’t get what’s
been right in front of them.
Miracles, whether they are burning bushes or just a reassuring word
and a promise in a moment of trouble, do occur regularly. It’s up to us
to see them.
http://patriotupdate.com/articles/mysterious-angel-intervenes-in-drivers-rescue/
