Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley

Cardinal’s Residence

2101 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02135-3192

31 May 2004

Subject: Closing of Sacred Heart Parish, Lexington Massachusetts

Dear Archbishop O’Malley,

My wife and I believe that Sacred Heart Church in Lexington is a jewel of the archdiocese, and that closing it is shortsighted. We further believe that leaving Sacred Heart open would be a benefit to the Roman Catholic Church at large.

Worshipers come to Sacred Heart from many surrounding towns, not just Lexington. Our congregation has a large population of young families. We sing praise—and we actually sing more than just one or two verses of the hymns! We worship, we pray, we take our time, we don’t run out the back door after communion. We are a community.

We have an extremely active congregation. For example, our family of five participates in the Mass and in our parish as follows:

• We bake bread for the Eucharist two or three times each year
• My 15-year-old daughter and I are a father-daughter lector team six to eight times each year
• I cantored one of the five psalms of the Easter Vigil this year
• My family hosts the after-Mass hospitality three to five times a year
• My three children attend CCD classes
• We tithe
• We contribute financially to our sister parish in Haiti

Sacred Heart is an active, modern, welcoming, living and growing parish. The presence of young people at Sacred Heart translates to a brighter future for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Near-term financial tactics, manipulation of statistics, geographic layout of parishes—these don’t capture the essence of Sacred Heart, nor do they help to reap its potential for long-term benefit to the Church and the people who are our congregation.

We urge you to re-consider the closing of Sacred Heart Parish. Leaving Sacred Heart Parish open is the better choice.

Sincerely,

(Sacred Heart Parishioners since 1998; former St. Brigid’s Parishioners)