Dear Bishop O'Malley,
 
 Please reconsider your decision to close our parish, Sacred Heart
Lexington. We are deeply concerned about many of our fellow parishioners, who will leave the Faith because they are hurt and angry as they see no valid reason for the closing. Yes, our statistics are lower and there is another church close by but those reasons alone do not justify breaking up our parish family. We are a healthy and vibrant parish community with a beautiful church and priests available to support us. We are also concerned about the many charities who have depended on us for support including St. John/St. Hugh in Roxbury and the poor in Haiti that will no longer receive our full financial aid. In addition, the Promise for Tomorrow campaign and the Catholic Appeal, very needy causes, will suffer from less donations.
 I'm sure your actions are allowed by Cannon Law but there must also be provisions in the Law that allows for compassion, understanding and redress of our plight. At worst, our parish should be consolidated with St. Brigid's rather that completely shut down. We know you are doing what you feel is right for the Church in general but so much will be unnecessarily lost by our closing. We will continue to pray for the "lost sheep" of our parish whose numbers regrettably will increase when our doors close for the last time. 
 
Sacred Heart parishioners for the past 38 years