Brennan loved to read, and as such, filled his books and talks with stories he’d found along the way, stories that always gave texture to the invasion of grace in our world. And in that spirit, I’d like to share with you a scene from Kent Meyers’ novel Twisted Tree; and although he has never read the novel, I believe it honors the essence of the author Brennan Manning, former priest [and, as he confesses in his books, a redeemed sinner and long time alcoholic]. — John Blase.
“The scene finds Caleb coming upon an accident, a car lying upside down in barbed wire. Three patrolmen are standing near the car; someone is lying between them beneath a tarp. Caleb is tempted not to stop, but does. Caleb used to be a priest before he fell in love with a woman and lost his collar. Now he is just a rancher.
A Native American woman was thrown from the car, not wearing a seat belt. One patrolman says an ambulance will arrive soon, so Caleb turns to go because there is nothing more he can do.
As he turns to walk away, he hears one of the men whisper, “He used to be a priest.” And then the scene changes; the atmosphere quickens as a different voice raises, the woman’s: “A priest?” The injured demands a chance to confess. Caleb tries to redirect her focus, but she is insistent. The scene continues: “Once a priest, always a priest.… It is indelible,” she said.
I assumed I knew what she meant: how the soul is marked by sacraments, and nothing can erase the mark, no omission or commission, no thought or word or deed, and the power I’d been given remained, regardless of belief.… I hadn’t felt holy for over twenty years, and I knew too well the old lessons of sacred objects that required, for their touching, consecrated hands.… But I’d told myself—I had to—that grace cannot be weakened by anything a human being does or disbelieves. It runs on, a pure thing, in spite of, as well as because of, us. Caleb bows his head and they begin the old familiar words.
The broken woman offers up the things she needs to say, and then the broken priest gives order to her suffering by assigning a penance. Caleb finishes by forgiving and blessing her. “Pilamaya,” she said when I finished.1 That final italicized word, pilamaya, is Lakota. It means “thank you.”
Brennan has never stopped doggedly reminding us of our deepest longing—that grace, God’s unconditional love for us, runs on, pure, in spite of, as well as because of, us. He has been a priest among us, giving indelible order to our suffering. Once a priest, always a priest. But he has also been broken among us, time after time, forgiven and blessed, as we all are.
— from All is Grace by Brennan Manning
And in Another Scene and Time
Mystery Priest at Missouri Car Accident Identified
Rev. Patrick Dowling is a Roman Catholic priest in Jefferson City.
‘Guardian Angel’ Revealed: Crash Survivor Meets Mystery Priest Rev. Patrick DowlingMany thought the Rev. Patrick Dowling’s appearance at a Missouri car crash was divine intervention.
ByMELISSA LUSTRIN and KAITLYN FOLMER
August 13, 2013, 2:08 AM
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Aug. 13, 2013— — The mystery priest who seemingly came from nowhere to pray with an accident victim at the scene of a head-on car crash in Missouri has come forward to say that he was only doing the basic job of a priest and most of the credit goes to God, who “took such good care of” the injured woman.
“I have no doubt the Most High answered their prayers and I was part of his answer, but only part,” the Rev. Patrick Dowling told ABC News Monday.
First responders had said they were convinced the mystery priest was sent from above.
Dowling, a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, was the clergyman who showed up when an allegedly drunken driver hit Katie Lentz, of Quincy, Mo., head-on Aug. 4 while traveling on Route 19 near Center, Mo. The accident pinned the 19-year-old in the front seat of her vehicle.
“I was coming from 8:30 a.m. mass and shortly after that I saw this line of cars,” Dowling recounted.
Lentz was barely clinging to life and her vital signs were failing fast when she asked rescue crews to pray with her. That’s when first responders say a man who looked like a Catholic priest seemed to appear out of nowhere, despite a 2-mile perimeter blocking the scene.
“One of the rescuers said to me, ‘We need all the help we can get right now,'” Dowling said.
Dowling had anointing oil with him. He prayed, gave Lentz the anointing of the sick, as well as absolution.
“There was a calmness that, to me, seemed to come over the entire scene,” New London Fire Chief Raymond Reed said.
But that’s not the only seemingly divine detail. Firefighters say their equipment kept failing until the mystery man appeared.
After Dowling performed his duties, he left the scene. But his sudden disappearance only added to the air of mystery. Dowling wasn’t in any of the nearly 70 photos or videos taken near the scene, which left many wondering whether he was an angel from above.
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It wasn’t long before the entire town and soon the country were searching for this seemingly heavenly hero who was dubbed the “angel priest.”Lentz was eventually airlifted to a local hospital with broken legs and ribs. Dowling had a chance to meet with Lentz Saturday in the intensive care unit.
“I told her I’m the priest who stopped by the site and she started to cry. I don’t know why,” Dowling said. “I think it was the most disappointing moment of all that I wasn’t an angel or something.”
While Lentz’s savior might have salt and pepper hair instead of a halo, those closest to the teen say they still believe Dowling is an angel among men.
Let’s remember it was the all mighty who loved that little girl so much and took such good care of her,” he said.
A native of Ireland, Dowling was ordained a priest for the Jefferson City Diocese in 1982. He serves in the prison ministry, and also ministers to the Spanish-speaking population of the Diocese of Jefferson City, according to the National Catholic Register.
