I want to buy a miracle! A little child’s testimony of genuine faith
Reflection for reading: This story presented today was taken and translated from the Adelante La Fe website, told by Father Lucas Prados from Spain (a missionary for many years in the Americas). Although it sounds like an unreal children's story, it was a real fact!!! We've made slight changes to the text to make it more comprehensible, but this doesn't detract from the facts. Reflect after reading on what Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it would go away, and nothing would be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20).
Andrew needed a miracle
Tess was a precocious eight-year-old girl. One day she overheard her mother and father talking about her younger brother, Andrew, who was very ill and their family had no money to pay for his treatment. They were planning to move to another apartment the following month because the father didn't have the money to pay the doctor's bills and the mortgage. Only a very expensive operation could save Andrew and her father was trying to get a loan but couldn't.
She heard her father whisper to her mother, whose eyes were filled with tears:
Only a miracle can save him.
Little girl Tess tries to buy a miracle for her brother Andrew
Tess went to her room and took out a piglet that she used as a piggy bank and kept hidden in her closet. She broke open the piglet and emptied all its contents onto the floor to count them carefully. She counted it a second time, a third! There was no room for error. Then she put all the coins in a jar, covered it, went out the back door of her house and walked six blocks to the pharmacy.
When she arrived, she waited until it was her turn. But the pharmacist, who was chatting animatedly with a gentleman, paid no attention to her. So she took a coin out of the jar and tapped it on the counter.
“What do you want?” - asked the pharmacist in an unpleasant tone. He continued without waiting for an answer:
“Can't you see I'm talking to my brother who's just come back from Chicago and I haven't seen him for years?” Tess replied in the same tone:
“Well, I also want to talk to you about my brother. He's very ill and I want to buy him a miracle.”
“What are you talking about?” - asks the pharmacist.
“His name is Andrew and he has something growing inside his head and my father says that only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don't sell miracles here, little one. I'm sorry, but I can't help your brother,” replied the pharmacist, now in a sweeter tone.
Tess didn't give up and continued to insist:
“Look, I have the money to pay for this. If it's not enough... tell me how much it costs.”
The pharmacist's brother was an elegant and polite man. So he leaned over and asked the little girl:
“What kind of miracle does your little brother need?!”
“I don't know. Tess replied with her eyes watering. All I know is that he's very ill and needs an operation. But my father can't afford it, so I want to use my own money.”
“How much money do you have?” - asked the man from Chicago.
“One dollar and eleven cents,” replied Tess in an almost incomprehensible voice. That's all I have, but I can get you more if you need it.
“Well, what a coincidence,” the man said, smiling, “a dollar and eleven cents, that's the price of a miracle.” He took the money and said to the child:
“Take me to your house, to see your brother and meet your parents. I have the miracle you need.
That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a neurosurgeon. He performed the operation free of charge and in no time Andrew was back home and healthy.
Tess's parents talked happily about the circumstances that brought the doctor to their home. “That surgery was a real miracle,” said his mother... “I wonder how much it would have cost?”. Tess smiled. But her mother knew exactly how much a miracle cost: one dollar and eleven cents, plus the faith of a little girl!!!
Reference: Adelante La Fe