Paul Murphy and a Changed Life

Testimony by Mabel H.

Three years ago, I began noticing a change in the behavior of my eldest son Jorge Luis. He had always been very studious, well-behaved and obedient to us. My husband and I were so happy in knowing that our son knew how to make good decisions.

We had lived in Arizona for about four years when Jorge Luis began to act much differently. He would come home late at night, sometimes not at all. His grades began to drop until finally he left college. His attitude was completely different. Church was not important to him any more and so he stopped practicing. His habits were very different from the values we had instilled in him. After some time, my husband Jorge commented that he had a suspicion that maybe our son was taking drugs. I was devastated and had a hard time believing and accepting that fact. But, unfortunately, it was true. Jorge Luis was on drugs. We tried to help our son by allowing him to bring his friends over to the house, in order to keep an eye on him. The choice of friends was a poor one, though.

Then trouble came with authorities. Jorge Luis had accumulated so many traffic tickets that a warrant was out for his arrest. On several occasions his license was suspended. In a short time our son spiraled out of control.

It was about this time that we met Miles Jesu. I had a friend who was dying from cancer. It was suggested to me by another acquaintance that I take this friend’s 12-year-old daughter to speak to her about how to deal with her mother’s imminent death. I met the ladies of Miles Jesu at Baseline (the Miles Jesu Center and men’s community in Phoenix, Arizona, is on Baseline Road). They invited me to visit their community in nearby Mesa, Arizona. We lost contact for several months. That Christmas I called them to wish them a Merry Christmas. From then on we began a friendship. My husband and I began to visit them regularly.

They told us about Paul Murphy. Little by little I told them about our troubles with our son. They suggested that we pray to Paul for him. And so we did. We placed a picture of Paul on our dining room table. Every day we asked Paul for help for our troubled son. By this time we were desperate. One morning our son came home upset saying that he needed money in order to escape from some individuals who were after him to kill him. My husband got in the car with him to see where he was headed and to find out if it was true. I called the Miles Jesu ladies and they came to my house. We prayed the rosary and prayed to Paul. Later that day, the ladies accompanied me to where my husband asked me to pick them up. No one was after Jorge Luis to kill him – he had taken an overdose and was hallucinating. A few weeks after that he was arrested for robbery. I had lost my son. We continued to beg Paul Murphy for a favor to help our son come out of trouble. We visited Paul’s tomb praying for this intention.

In May of 2006, my father got very sick. I had to leave immediately for Puerto Rico because my mother was near death. Jorge Luis decided to go with me. If he left Arizona, he would not be able to return because there was a warrant for his arrest. But he wanted to go, anyway. My mother, thanks be to God (and to Paul Murphy) recovered. I returned to Arizona and Jorge Luis stayed in Puerto Rico. We told Paul that we were leaving it up to him to intercede for Jorge Luis. And he did.

Paul Murphy did us a big favor. Jorge Luis has made a total change. Today, he is back in the university with high grades. He does not even smoke. We know that Paul really helped our son. There is no trace of his drug use or bad behavior. We are so amazed. It has been two years since this ordeal happened. Jorge Luis continues to excel in school. Although we no longer live in Arizona, we keep in touch with Miles Jesu. We are so grateful to Paul that we decided that we wanted to belong to this beautiful, great faith family to which Paul belonged. Before we moved back to Puerto Rico, my husband and I applied to be members of Miles Jesu. We continue to promote the Cause of Paul Murphy. In our house we have a big picture of Paul. We are constantly asking him for favors for we know that he is listening. Thanks Paul.

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