Manga Lectio: A Sign of Affection

                                                           1. Why do Manga Lectio? 

Manga Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I reading this manga? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace.

3. Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. 

4. Open yourself to God’s Presence

Remember God places all our thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of other people you know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence.  

5. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Manga

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the manga.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me.

 When meeting with my anime and manga club recently, we were talking more about doing more with manga. The topic of romance also came up too, which is something that I think about a lot in terms of how romance is portrayed in anime. However, I've never really taken the time to read about it in manga before and I still have to figure out how to do that. Even though I can find manga on Crunchyroll, there's not a lot I've been seeing that interest me and even when I find one that interests me, like A Sign of Affection, it isn't complete. Despite this, I'm still going to try to reflect on what I've read in A Sign of Affection based on how much of it's on Crunchyroll now.

6. Brief and written explanation of the manga

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the manga seen on this blog, or reading the manga for yourself since that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

A deaf girl falls in love with a guy she goes to college with who is a friend of one of the deaf girl's friends. Despite the fact that the guy is trilingual, he doesn't know how to really interact with the deaf girl until he starts learning sign language himself in order to get to know her better. This interests him even if it's difficult and is something that his friends, and others like the deaf girl's parents, don't understand (the anime that started in the Winter 2024 season is a lot better and more memorable in my opinion - I plan to do an Anime Lectio post about it after the first season is finished)

7.  Reflect on the manga

Has this brief and written explanation of the manga shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the manga from me.

Learning more about others is how you can learn more about yourself. Learning sign language in order to get closer to the one you love, as well as for the one you love to get closer to you, is an example of this, which is seen in the manga A Sign of Affection. Other things can be seen in this manga too, like relationships between other characters, but taking the time to learn about your partner, no matter what the relationship is, is important.

8. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this manga.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can take the time to understand others, especially others we want to be in a relationship with.