Dear Archbishop O’Malley,

We were married at Sacred Heart and chose to move back here because it contains the intimate sense of community lacking in the other parishes in which we've participated in the past. T's family have been Sacred Heart parishioners since the 1950's.  We
were all stunned on Tuesday to hear that our parish would be closing.

To the Archdiocese, we parishioners may appear as families merely shepherded
to a different pasture, but the reality, for us, is far different.  Although
we donate money to Sacred Heart Parish we have also, and very importantly to
us, donated our time.   We'll include our personal feelings in a subsequent letter
you'll have from us tomorrow but will also be detailing in that letter the
contributions this parish has made to area hospitals.  We both have taught
CCD here for several years and will be describing one service project in
particular which began in our CCD classrooms and which has continued and
found momentum outside those classrooms.  Thousands of books have been
donated to Children's Hospital in Boston and to the VA Hospital in Bedford.
We recognize that we have an abundance of resources here around Lexington
and its surrounding communities and we have been very happy to shift these
resources to hospitals such as these.  Our efforts have been recognized at
Children's Hospital, and we are proud that not only did the children start a
project which helps create a comforting atmosphere for patients but which
encourages literacy as well.