The Power of God

A long time ago in Hungary, there lived a good king who ruled his people well. One day a poor man named Philip was brought before him. Philip had been accused of wanting to kill the king. Poor Philip was really innocent; he had had no desire to kill the king at all. But how could he prove to the king that he was innocent?

Philip thought of everything, and he prayed. He knew that if he did not succeed that he would be hung, and thus his life would end. He even told the king that he had a picture of the king in his house, and that every day he stood before the picture and begged Jesus and Mary to give the king their choicest blessings.

Still the king was not moved by what he heard from poor Philip. Then, seeing that all he told the king did not help him, Philip decided to say one more thing. “Your majesty! I see that you do not believe that I am innocent of the crime you say that I have committed. At home, I have an only son who is twelve years old, whom I love with all my heart. He is a great treasure to me because he helps me to make a living, since I am crippled. Right now he is praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary for me, that my life be spared because I am innocent. I am willing to give you my son to be your servant until his death.”

At this the king was moved and said, “I now believe that you are innocent. You have proven to me that you have a loving heart. You are free to go and I want your son to work for me, polishing my gold vessels. I will pay him well and you shall both be able to live comfortably.”

Suddenly the king’s guards rushed into the palace. With them stood a man whom they had tied up with rope, so that he could not get away. The king looked at the man the guards had dragged into the courtroom and saw that he looked just like Philip, but he was not crippled! The guards had found him trying to get into the palace, unnoticed. The man confessed that he was the one guilty of wanting to kill the king.

A guard then took Philip home. The guard told the boy the good news that his father’s life was spared and that they had found the real criminal. And he told the boy that the king wanted him to work at the palace, polishing gold vessels. The boy and his father were delighted, and they both knelt on the spot to thank Jesus and Mary for helping them.

As you can see by this story, sometimes things don’t turn out the way we would like them to. But if we trust in Jesus and Mary, like old Philip and his son did, we too will get greater blessings from Jesus and Mary. Sometimes God will test us, just to see how much we trust in Him. Ask Jesus and Mary to remain faithful to them, especially when you find it hard to do.

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