Lexington, MA 02420

Dear Bishop and Other Church Closure Decision Makers,

I have been a member of the Lexington Sacred Heart Parish since 1996 when I moved to Lexington with my husband and 2 year-old son.  I was raised Catholic and my husband is Presbyterian.  At the time we moved to Lexington, we were not actively practicing religion, although our son was baptized Catholic at the Paulist Center in Boston.  We attended services at Sacred Heart and immediately began “coming back to church”.  The sense of community and family fostered by Father Colletti, the other priests and nuns of the church, as well as the parishioners was overwhelmingly inviting and enticing.  Soon thereafter, we wanted to be active members of this faith community.

My calling was to be involved with the religious education program, organized by Sister Mary Lyman.  Sister Mary is an enthusiastic spiritual Christian mentor for all the catechists at Sacred Heart.  Her tireless and dedicated efforts have helped shape and mold the religious education of more than 450 children as well as of all of the catechists. Unique programs such as the Christmas pageant for the first graders, Palm Sunday Procession for the preschoolers, and the Passion Play for the third graders have left indelible images on my children and me.  I have now taught CCD for the pre-K, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade and Fourth Graders at Sacred Heart and felt privileged to oversee the spiritual development of many children while watching my own faith re-ignite. 

A few years ago, we adopted our second child and have felt wonderfully blessed by the unique Adoption Program offered at Sacred Heart which brings adoption families together to build support amongst ourselves and each other.   These programs as well as the beautiful setting of Sacred Heart have renewed my faith and made me and my family active members of the Catholic Church. 

I am deeply saddened and regret your decisions to close this wonderfully vibrant and life-giving Parish and know that no other parish can fill the hole left by this decision.  I am feeling lost and totally abandoned by this decision.  I know many others feel this same way

It is with great sincerity that I humbly ask you to reconsider the decision to close Sacred Heart Parish of Lexington.