1 June 2004

Sean P. O’Malley

Archbishop of Boston

2101 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02135

Dear Archbishop O’Malley:

Please do not close Sacred Heart in Lexington. Come and see why. It is a vibrant and growing spiritual community, the kind of parish that attracts people to the faith and keeps them. It has brought many young families I know back to the Catholic Church after years of absence.

Sacred Heart is cherished by those of us who are parishioners and have found Jesus there; it should be cherished, too, by the Archdiocese because it does the work of evangelization like no other church I have ever known.  By closing Sacred Heart, you will be closing a not just a door to a parish, but an entry to the Church for many who have yet to come. Leave it open, and they will come. They come every year in increasing numbers.

Why do they come? Beautiful, reverent liturgies, inspirational homilies from visiting priests and from our gifted pastor, a wonderful variety of music, service ministries that are active and far-reaching, a loving community, a devout and active youth group, a strong religious education program, and a lovingly maintained church whose small size provides an intimacy and immediacy that plays no small part in attracting new parishioners.

Sacred Heart is not only viable; it is a model for how to continue the mission of the Church. It is a parish capable of bringing back the disillusioned. It is the kind of parish the Church needs now.

Sincerely yours,

Arlington, MA 02476