Brothers and sisters, I know of a story that happened in the 19th century that deals with using hand signals as a way of power. I can tell you that it does work. There was a conference of priests in Africa. Priests all over the world were invited. In Africa, there was a king who had a smart monkey as a pet. One day, the king decided to go to the city mall with his monkey. At the mall, the monkey started to behave in an unusual manner. The monkey climbed a tree located inside the mall. The monkey did not want to come down. The king tried with all his might to make the monkey come down from the tree, but the monkey refused to go down. The king did not want to leave his monkey so they set up tents inside the mall for the king to sleep in. Five days passed and the monkey was still at the top of the tree. The king was extremely worried that his monkey was not eating and drinking. All the people of the kingdom gathered at the mall to assist the king, including the priests who were attending the conference.
Some people who claimed to have magic powers tried to get the monkey down from the tree. None of their powers worked. Many of the priests tried to use their prayers, but none worked as well. Out of nowhere, someone saw the priest from Saipan and they called him to try his prayers. The priest from Saipan went under the tree. The priest and the monkey made eye contact and the priest then raised his right hand above his head. He made a sign of the cross and the monkey suddenly jumped down from the tree. The monkey hugged the king and the king became very happy. He thanked the priest from Saipan. The king invited the priest to come to his castle. When the priest was about to leave the mall, the king asked him what kind of power he used to bring the monkey down from the tree. The priest said “abracadabra hand signal.” The king asked what that meant. The priest said he told the monkey to get down from the tree or else he would cut it down. Brothers and sisters, the sign of the cross.
RAY AGULTO
Kannat Tabla, Saipan
