Thirty C.I.A. agents spent last weekend in Dedham and the surrounding area reaching out to those in need.The agents, high school students from St. Mary’s LifeTeen, were participating in the annual Catholics In Action retreat.
The retreat, which was limited to 30 participants and had a waiting list, began on Friday night when they traveled to the Boston Rescue Mission to serve dinner.On Saturday the teens drove into the Boston Common and for several hours distributed hot soup, coffee, bag lunches, clothing, and toiletries to the homeless.Several of them left the base camp near the Park Street T station and brought the items to the homeless around Downtown Crossing.
More than meeting their physical needs, they were also there to meet their spiritual needs, said Rev. Bill Lohan, LifeTeen’s priest.
“We are encouraging the kids not only to talk to them and to pray for them,” Lohan said, “but to pray with them, right here on the spot.”
While his mother spoke in Spanish to a group of Dedham girls and looked for clothes from the dozens of bags donated, one little boy relished in the attention several high school boys were showering upon him.They played tag with him on the Common and lifted him up onto their shoulders.
They then broke up into smaller groups Saturday afternoon and went to several area sites.One group went to visit, sing for, and pray with residents at Highgate Manor. Another served dinner to residents of O’Neil Drive.A third group went to Germaine Lawrence in Arlington, a residential treatment center for adolescent girls.A final group went to Bethany House, a home for retired nuns in Framingham.
The retreat ended on Sunday when all 30 went to the Home for Little Wanderers to paint and play with the children.
