An SUV-driving young man drove his SUV blacked out last month and put him on an intercept course to meet an elderly priest who was on Sunday mass. The SUV out of control was within striking distance of Father John Bok’s car but was thrown off course in the final seconds.
We Are Grateful To The Lord
Fr. John, a Franciscan priest aged 87 once taught physics. He received a lesson on metaphysics while he was traveling to St. Andrew Catholic Church, Milford, Ohio, on Oct. 2.
According to the Catholic News Agency, Fr. John was about to pull into the church parking lot when a 17-year-old male driving an SUV near him suffered a seizure, and he blacked himself out.
The SUV, unpiloted, jumped the curb in the next street and raced across a field, careening towards Fr. John’s driver-side door.
Fr. John later noted that the situation was a “win-win,” granted that “heaven is going to be better than here.”
However, it was not the time for the priest to meet his maker.
The SUV smashed into a sign and an old pole and appeared to be able to jump into the air over Fr. John’s Hyundai Sonata.
Fr. John explained to CNA that he didn’t know that the car had gone over the top of him because he was looking ahead, and it was to his left and above.
He said, “And out the corner of my eyes I sensed something going by, but it was just me that thought it was a bird”
The SUV fell nose-first, then rolled to the side and came to a halt.
Fr. John wrote that he was not injured and that his car was not scratched on the Franciscan Friars’ website.
A police officer notified Fr. John was informed by a police officer that Braden Varner was being admitted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. However, he was all right.
Braden was fine. According to WXIX he also survived with only a small scratch on his hand.
Braden described it as a “true miracle.”
The seizure occurred in October, and the 17-year-old is currently being treated for epilepsy.
Sunday was the Feast of Holy Guardian Angels. This is a day Catholics remember those celestial beings many believe, based on Scripture. They are charged with guarding “thee” in all thy ways.
The old priest was amazed at the coincidence and said that it made him reflect often on God’s providences, miracles, Guardian Angels, and the laws of Physics.
The incident was captured by a security camera installed in the parking lot at a nearby funeral home.
The video was shown to the priest by a family member who owns the funeral home.
The priest said, “When I see it I just scratch my head, and I say, “Thank you, Lord.”
Fr. reflected on the physics that led to his solitary brush with death. John wrote: “According to Google [my car] stands at 4.83 feet high. What was it that the pole stood in this exact spot, attached to nothing? What laws of physics allowed it to lift the boy’s car nearly 5 feet into the air and then send it over my car? So many questions.”
The priest said that although he might have to wait for answers to his questions, he was “certainly grateful to God”.
