College can be the most pressing time in your life. Stud-ies, exams, social life, when is there time to sit down and pray about it. Do you pray? Do you go to church? Do you have faith? If you have to hesitate to answer any of these questions, you are highly recommended to sign up for Bear Awakening. For over 35 years, Awakening retreats have impacted count-less lives. Since 2003, St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center at Baylor University has celebrated eight Bear Awakenings. The retreat is led by students only and retreaters generally

must be 18 and older, while attending college. Baylor Alum Alex Dixon said “Bear Awakening has impacted my life and has made me more spiritual.” Once you have attended an Awakening retreat, students and alumni are allowed to staff any Awakening in the country. Many students at St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center have staffed for schools such as Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas, Louisiana State University and many more. “It’s a different and beautiful experience with every Awakening you go to. It’s also an amazing opportu-nity to meet people beyond Bear Awakening. “said Baylor Junior Celina Basaldu. “And it’s those experiences and those people that awaken you all over again. They become your best experiences and your best friends.”

By Cindy Dixon

(continued on page 2)

Cindy Dixon

The Catholic Student Association (CSA) is the first of-ficial non-Baptist student organization to be chartered at Baylor University. Since November 2008, CSA has been able to minister and provide opportunities to students at Baylor who wish to be mem-bers of an on-campus student organization.

CSA hosts meetings twice a month with speakers, dis-cussion topics and opportuni-ties to learn more about what it means to be Catholic and Catholic traditions. Some of CSA’s guests have included Father Anthony, Dean Hibbs of the Honors College, and professors.

CSA hosts its annual Christmas Coffee formal in the fall, Dia Del Catholic in the spring and a new event for Mardi Gras that was held for the first time in February 2010. The aim of an event for Mardi Gras is to educate the campus about the Christian traditions surrounding the now secular festival before the fasting period of Lent.

This semester, CSA was proud to appear in the Home-coming parade for the second time. This year, CSA constructed and debuted the first ever homecoming float,

On-campus organization for Catholics“Tradition” which incorporated Baylor’s many traditions and aspects of history. This is another way CSA has been able to be involved in many aspects of Baylor’s programs and to be a visible community to the Baylor and Waco.

CSA also is involved with Baylor programs such as Dia Del Oso, Relay for Life, Bearathon, and Steppin’ Out (Bay-lor’s campus wide service event). CSA is proud to be able to offer students an organization that not only gets involved with Baylor and its programs but offers a place to grow in faith and fellowship as Catholics at Baylor.

By Elizabeth George

Catholic Connection December 2010A St. Peter’s Publication, Volume 1, No. 1

Students retreat into fellowship Awakeninghelpsstudentsfind Time for spirituality and faith

StaffCindy Dixon, co-editorLiz Hitchcock, co-editorElizabeth George, writer

Scott Melvin, writerFr. Anthony Odiong, Chaplain

Natalie Terry, Academic AdviserContact: P.O. Box 6060

Waco, Tx 76706(254) 757-0636

“At the beginning of my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to be a Christian, but not necessarily Catholic, so I went to a different church.” she said, “I had a lot of great experiences there, but as time went on, I felt a strong call-ing to the Catholic Church.”

As time went on, she found St. Peter’s and decided to enroll in its RCIA class. After her second year at Baylor, she was eventually asked to be the assistant director of the pro-gram. Now, she is the director and coordinates all the lessons and communicates with the diocese. “Those on RCIA team have two main responsibilities,” said Gray, “to journey with the candidates and catechumens as they grow in love of God and

alternate responsibility for teaching lessons.”This year there are 20 people in the RCIA class and

most of them are college aged. The class ends in the Easter Celebration, where these students will graduate. The class is held every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9 p.m. in the worship area of the church.

RCIA classBy Liz Hitchcock

Whether you are still deciding if the Catholic faith is right for you or you want to expand your knowledge and devotion to the Church, RCIA could be just what you are looking for. RCIA stands for the Rites of Christian Ini-tiation of Adults and is a year long class geared towards teaching every aspect of the Catholic church and its tradi-tion.

Mary Gray, a senior at Baylor, is the director of the program this year and is a great source of knowledge and encouragement for anyone seeking to achieve assurance in the church. For the past two years Mary has been a part of St. Peter’s church and is continually looking for ways to help people grow in their faith with God. During her childhood she attended Catholic school and was receptive to religion, but was not confident that Catholicism was the correct path for her. When she graduated from high school, she had decided to find out exactly which denomination would suit her. She decided that Christianity was right for her, but she was still not sure if the Catholic Church would be where she would find what she was looking for.

Mary Gray

Catholic Connection Page 2 Dec. 2010

Awakening renews and restores(continued from page 1)

Bear Awakening takes place at an undisclosed location. The entire weekend is dedicated to the Catholic teachings. In order to focus on faith, Awakening is on God’s time. No watches, cell phones, or other electronic devices are allowed on the retreat. Most of the retreat is shrouded in secrecy. Baylor Senior and this year’s Bear Awakening Co-ordinator, Heather Woolley said “Awakening is a three day retreat involving talks, activities, small group discussions, Mass, reconciliation and much more.” Bear Awakening nine will be from Friday, April 1, 2011 to Sunday, April 3. Retreaters are encouraged to sign up at the beginning of spring semester as spots are limited and are filled “first come, first serve”.

Last year, Bear Awakening accepted over 55 retreater ap-plications. Baylor Sophomore Gabby Garza was a retreater at Bear Awakening eight and said “It literally changed my whole spiritual being. It “awakened” me and made my faith in God even stronger. The feeling that we felt at awak-ening cannot be taken away or replaced by anything else.”Over 40 staffers assist Bear Awakening. “Staffing Bear Awakening is very important to me, I hope I get the oppor-tunity to do it again this year” said Dixon. Bear Awakening’s have been known to be more personal compared to Texas and Texas A&M. As St. Peter’s CSC

accepts 60 retreater applications, other schools take on double, if not triple the amount of retreaters. In addition, Texas A&M has three Aggie Awakenings per calendar year.Bear Awakening will begin to accept retreater applications at the beginning of the 2011 spring semester. If you have attended an Awakening retreat and wish to staff, you may fill out a staffer application in person.

Bear Awakening is a Catholic retreat for college students only. You do not have to be Catholic to attend, although Catholic teachings will be observed. The retreater fee is $40 which includes meals and a t-shirt.

love my Catholic faith while also growing in my understanding of ecumenicalism. As a sponsor for the Catholic Student Associa-tion (CSA), it is now my turn to mentor

students and help them understand the complementary of the roles of their two families– the Church and Baylor University – in their lives.

This gift, how-ever, comes with great responsibility. My advising col-leagues know that I

am Catholic and routinely send students to talk to me if they have questions about St. Peter’s or the CSA. This means that I am a representative of the Catholic Church to my coworkers and the students alike. As

For over two years, God has blessed me with the privilege of working as an Academic Adviser at my alma mater and of continu-ing my connection with St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center. I think that being a Catholic member of the faculty population is like being a member of two intermarried families: Baylor University and the Catholic Church. I am proud to say that I am Green, Gold and Catholic!

As I get to know over 270 stu-dents I advise each semester, I am reminded that advising goes beyond the three “Rs.” I hear about all aspects of my advisees’ lives and match students with campus and community resources and organiza-tions on a daily basis. Although, there is an extra thrill when stu-dents mention that they are Catho-lic and active at St. Peter’s, because I know how it shaped and nurtured me as a stu-dent. There, I learned how to translate Catholic ideas into terminol-ogy that my Protestant friends were comfortable, due to the mentoring of faculty and older students. While studying Baylor’s Baptist tradition and heri-tage, I began to look more critically at my own tradition and heritage. This helped me to embrace and

a member of both families, I am essentially an ambassador to those who are only in one of the fami-lies. Thus, I must be both the best Catholic and the best Bear possible at all times, as I learned to be in my student days. Current students will face a similar challenge – that of be-ing articulate, well-educated people of faith – as they enter the increas-ingly secular professional world, so I cherish the privilege of helping them learn to handle that challenge. St. Peter’s has changed in many ways since I first attended Mass there in 2001, but the love, passionate faith and camaraderie amongst the students there is the same. I hope and pray that as St. Peter’s grows, it will continue to be a living laboratory for faith and learning.

Natalie Terry (B.A. 2005, M. A. 2008) serves as an Academic Adviser in the Office of Aca-demic Advisement in the Paul L. Foster Success Center at Baylor University.

Cindy Dixon

Catholic Connection Page 3 Dec. 2010

Current students will face a similar challenge as they enter the increasingly secular professional world, so I cherish the privilege of helping them learn to handle that challenge. -Natalie Terry

Green, Gold and CatholicNatalie Terry givesPerspective on howAdvising and faithCan coincideBy Natalie Terry

Dear Friends,I was born in southern Ni-

geria in 1968 and grew up in Africa for a great part of my life. Life in Africa is nothing compared to America. I grew up in a village in a developing city where I went to school and became a priest.

I was ordained in 1993 and I served under the Dioceses in southern Nigeria where I grew up and about 13 years into the priesthood the Bishop of Nigeria asked if I wanted to go to America and I said yes. We had a discussion with the Bishop of Austin and I was given good faith from the Diocese of Nigeria to go to Austin and serve and to study.

So I came to the United States of America October 20, 2006 and was first posted to St. Mary’s in West, Texas as the assistant pastor for a year and a half and I was also asked to help here at St. Peter’s at Baylor University and I loved it very much. I came to help and never went back. I am now the director I have served at that capacity since 2008 and I have loved every minute of it.

It is very inspirational to work with young people who have the hunger for the truth. I like the face of America that I see; the promise of a beautiful America tomorrow. Working with young people has been my greatest inspira-tion here and I hope and pray that I can serve for many years to come.Yours in Christ,Fr. Anthony Odiong

St. Peter’s changesA seminary students life

Baylor Alumn shares his story

By Scott Melvin

I originally found St. Peters through a non-denomina-tional prayer group. I was a seminary student at Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor and new to Waco and my roommate invited me to his churches weekly prayer group. I attended this prayer off and on for about two years. During the second semester of my second year of seminary I began chal-lenge the doctrines and pre-cepts of my Baptist background. Certain things were not adding up and I began to wonder if I was still truly a Protestant. I spoke to a friend at our prayer group and I began to ask her questions about her faith and I began to attend St. Peters with her and her friend Analicia Fernandez. Ana answered many of my questions due to her knowledgeable faith. However, I was still not convinced to join, and more importantly I was still confused about my future. Here I was at the largest Baptist university in the world, at its seminary considering becoming Catholic! So, I did what any rational twenty-something would do, I left Waco and hitchhiked the country for over three months.

After I got home in mid-August I began to earnestly pray, seeking an answer to what I should do. It was exactly two years ago on Thanksgiving that I remember realizing that I did indeed want to become Catholic, and despite that I wanted to return to the seminary at Baylor because I knew that at St. Peters I had friends, but not only that I would be around people my age that could guide me in this process. On Easter Vigil in 2009, with my parents support, and with Analicia as my sponsor, I became a member of

Cindy Dixon

Father Anthony Odiong

the Roman Catholic Church.The main factor in that process was Bear Awakening. It

was at Awakening that I grew closer to the St. Peters com-munity, made lifelong friends, and would be the catalyst for the greatest moment in my life.

After the Awakening event the Thursday after are called “Fourth Day”. It was on the first Fourth day that I saw a beautiful girl wearing a red jacket, and I thought to myself I have to meet her. We spoke and exchanged names, her name was Elizabeth Lawrence, but nothing more really came of it. The next thing I know we are on a date, and on October 30, 2010 Elizabeth Lawrence became Elizabeth Melvin.

Allow me to leave you with this last thought. Do not think of St. Peters as only a student center. Think of St. Peters as also a church. It is the body of Christ; it is where we receive the Eucharist, it the primary place where we encounter God.

Meet Father AnthonyMelvin

Catholic Connection Page 4 Dec. 2010