Lexington, Massachusetts  02420

                                                                                                                June 6, 2004

Archbishop Sean O’Malley

2101 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts  02135

Dear Father O’Malley,

As a long time resident of Lexington I have been involved in Sacred Heart parish for a numbers of years.  The spiritual support and the ways in which our pastors have our spiritual growth and built a sense of community have enabled me to feel as at “home” in the Church.  In a very personal way I have benefited from that spiritual support and the strength of that community.  I wish to mention two very specific ways Sacred Heart has help me.  Most personally touching was the support extended to my husband after a life threatening accident on the Charles River.  I knew the prayers of  many people help see him (and me) through a very rough bit of time. 

The second way in which I have felt the spirit of Sacred Heart relates to the work that I am privileged to do.  For the last eight years I have been the school psychologist at the Cotting School in Lexington.  The Cotting School in one of two facilities in eastern Massachusetts equipped to handle low incidence, often medically fragile students.  Many of our students have chronic medical, neurological, or orthopedic problems.  Students make progress at their own, sometimes-painful pace.   In some way which I can’t clearly articulate the support I feel from the spirit at Sacred Heart helps me do the work I feel called to do during the week.  The loss of this parish will leave a huge emptiness.

I write also for the others.  We have three children who had the benefit of being nourished by “smaller” parish communities.  In these spaces they felt nourished, cared for accepted and safe.  It takes a community to raise a child – in the past the Roman Church has allowed smaller communities of faith to exist.  Perhaps selfishly we have sought out caring, supportive, active places of worship as these have nurtured our children and us.  I am saddened and angered our children may never have these places of worship within the Roman Church to bring their children to. 

Losing these small communities affects the quality of life throughout the town or city.  Just one example, when my first child was a toddler a group of parents looked for a way to meet together with other mothers and their toddlers in an indoor space.  We worked with town officials, the Lexington Pre-school PTA and other community groups. Eventually Sacred Heart became the location for this “mom and tot” drop-in center.  That was twenty-five years ago. 

Should Sacred Heart close our lives, our parish and our larger community will be diminished.  I urge you to re-consider closing this vibrant parish.