Our parish at work
Fr. Francis O’Brien
Pastor
Fr. Francis (Fran) O’Brien has been reinvigorating the parish since his arrival in June. He has been getting to know parishioners, hiring staff, and working with ministry leaders. With particular attention to music, liturgy, and faith formation, he is helping to rebuild the parish. He has also been working with the Finance Council to get the parish on strong financial footing. He has a number of new initiatives that will be taking shape after Easter, including work on ecological gardening, expansion of faith formation and more pastoral initiatives.
Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in 1985, Fr. Fran has spent all of his priesthood in parish and campus ministry, where, along with his sacramental and parochial duties, he has frequently served as music director and composer.
Manny Lim
Music coordinator/choir Director
Manny Lim is the new Director of the Sacred Heart Choir. He has been helping choir members to familiarize themselves with Fr. Fran’s compositions, improve their vocal control, and gain confidence in their ability to sing as a group. The choir is enjoying the learning process and looking forward to increasing their repertoire under Manny’s guidance.
A certified cantor and accomplished pianist, Manny has been a musician at the Paulist Center, and has sung with the Back Bay Chorale since 2007.
Susie Calisi
Office Manager
Susie has taken on the responsibility of organizing and managing the new offices at Sacred Heart. She also helps prepare weekly bulletins, sets up the calendar, and helps with scheduling events. She has been indispensable in supporting Fr. Fran in day-to-day matters.
LAURA LUCKE
Business ADministrator
Long-term parishioner, Lorie Lucke, serves as Business Administrator for the parish.
Lorie received an MS in Industrial Administration (MBA equivalent) in finance and corporate strategy at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to 30+ years in corporate roles, she has served on the Board of the Handel & Haydn Society for 25 years. She has also completed Archdiocesan training for this position.
Lorie has been an active parishioner in a variety of liturgical ministries since her baptism at Sacred Heart in 1985, with a particular emphasis on liturgical ministries and planning our Triduum celebrations. She also volunteered as business administrator for a year before being employed by the parish.
Debbie Cunha
coordinator of faith Formation
Long-term parishioner, Debbie Cunha, serves as the Coordinator of Faith Formation for the parish.
Debbie has been a member of Sacred Heart since she was 17. She was married here and raised three children within the parish. Several of her grandchildren are now participating in Faith Formation at Sacred Heart. She has also been an active Faith Formation educator during this time.
Recognizing the many challenges facing families today, Debbie has sought training in innovative approaches to Faith Formation. She is certified in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level 1, a Montessori-based approach that introduces complex topics in a child-centered, discovery-based, hands-on way.
Debbie also has a background in child development, elementary education (K-6), teaching, publishing, and editing. With a master’s degree and 17 years as a speech-language pathologist at an elementary school, Debbie now enjoys coordinating faith formation and praises educators' professionalism, flexibility, and kindness. Details and videos on Sacred Heart’s programming are on our Faith Formation page.
The Finance Council
The Finance Council consists of parishioners working with Fr. Francis O’Brien to assist with transitioning from a collaborative to an independent parish. They have been focusing on getting the parish on a firm financial footing while addressing its current and longer-term financial needs. Barry Cunha is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Council.
Anita Parillo Shine, Laura Lucke, Barry Cunha, Dan Rapperport