Bonds of CharityNovember 10, 2025

Bonds of Charity

On Sunday, November 2nd, our community celebrated 175 years of ministry in Cleveland with family, friends, colleagues and former sisters. A highlight of the event was the distribution of the book, Bonds of Charity, a history of those years newly written by Richard Osborne and edited by Sr. Cynthia Glavac, our community archivist. Its title is the springboard for this reflection.

“Bonds of charity” is a phrase from the writings of St. Angela who encourages us to “cling together” in this way. Let’s explore the nature of these bonds that are loose enough to invite the stranger into our lives as the Gospel message demands. Bonds that are loose enough to encircle with love the poor and the outcast, the disenfranchised and the prisoner, who are often dismissed by society. Bonds that are loose enough to be stretched even further to accommodate a growing awareness that love does indeed heal all.

Bonds can also be experienced as tight, not ones that cause pain, but ones that gently signal to the other that commitment is promised in the caring relationship. Though misunderstandings may ensue there is assurance that they will be worked through with kindness and respect. Commitment is a dimension of the practice of charity that signals staying power.

St. Angela’s linkage of “bonds” to “charity” appears to be unique. She was well-versed in the Bible from her youth. She was inspired to a life filled with ministry to hurting people from all classes of society. It is not surprising that she would connect the practice of charity to the image of being bound since from an early age she was already bound to God, “the Lover of us all.”

May we have the courage to embrace the bonds of charity to which St. Angela counseled us. If we do, there is no doubt that she will be our loving guide.

Sister Virginia DeVinne