-

When St. Casimir, Canton, parishioner Joann Nikolaid attended her first Graham Festival with her mother in 1981, she was less than enthusiastic.

“I didn’t have a relationship with the Lord at the time,” said Ms. Nikolaid. “My mother made me go.” Twenty-five years later, as she attended the Maryland Metro Festival at Camden Yards, her feelings were quite different.

“This time it was for real,” said Ms. Nikolaid, who was one of some 81,000 people who crammed into Oriole Park at Camden Yards about a month ago for the July 7 Metro Maryland Festival hosted by Billy and Franklin Graham.

At the festival, Father Erik Arnold, pastor of the Church of the Crucifixion, Glen Burnie, and a team of Catholics were in attendance to pray with participants and minister to those who expressed an interest in Catholicism.

Since the event, Father Arnold and his team of 225 Catholics have invited the 300 Graham Fest attendees who showed an interest in Catholicism to learn about the Catholic faith.

On Aug. 20 at St. Louis, Clarksville, Monsignor Joseph Luca, pastor, welcomed Father Arnold and invited more than a hundred people, to “celebrate a new beginning.” “Tonight is another opportunity to meet new people and be with Jesus,” said Ms. Nikolaid. “I also want to take information back to my home parish.” The night started with praise and worship songs by the band Old Orchard. By the last song, everyone from young children to senior citizens were singing and raising their hands in the air to give thanks to the Lord.

Father Arnold said a prayer for everyone in the church to open their hearts, focus on the Lord and leave sin behind. He used St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa as examples of people who dropped everything to follow the Lord.

“The human heart is made to surrender to the Lord,” said Father Arnold.

During the event, Catholics who made a recommitment to God gave testimonials of how God has influenced their lives. One young woman said that through the sacraments, worship and scripture you can see that the Lord is always there and you can feel his presence.

“God calls ordinary people to follow him and to enter the great adventure of joining his mission,” said David Nodar, the keynote speaker for the evening and a parishioner of St. Louis. Mr. Nodar spoke about how Jesus called Simon Peter, an ordinary fisherman, to be one of his disciples. Peter is an example of how we, too, can falter and fail but come back into God’s good graces.

Father Arnold encouraged everyone to become involved in their parishes.

When Rich Reamer was in high school, his family left the Catholic Church. Now, some 25 years later, the 43-year-old is considering coming back for a second look.

“I want to learn about the Catholic faith and the writings of John,” said Mr. Reamer. “The Catholic Church is much more spiritual than I thought.” Mr. Reamer said that he would like to come back for worship sessions like this one, but he is not sure whether he will become Catholic again.

“One important thing is letting Catholics know that we affirm their commitment to  Christ and we want them to keep living it out. If we did that then it was a good night,” said Father Arnold.

Father Arnold said that people who are thinking about coming back to the Catholic Church should just do it.

“To be a Catholic is to be a disciple of the Lord, and we must live out our relationship with Jesus and the church,” said Father Arnold.

---

Reprinted with permission of the Catholic Review, the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s official newspaper.