SHIELD OF FAITH

Extensive Bible study program, with strong emphasis on Scriptures, hopes to light spark in the Diocese

Gary Farrell has always had a love for Sacred Scriptures.

“I am one of those people who is excited about Sacred Scriptures, and we are talking (as far back as) 50 years ago,” said Farrell, a parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel in South Glens Falls. “I found that there was a very poor understanding of them among other Catholics and not that much interest in learning about them either.”

For nearly 40 years, Farrell has tried to get a Bible, catechetical or apologetics study group going first in the Archdiocese of Boston and then in various parishes in the Diocese of Albany, but nothing seemed to catch on. But it was the famed Pew Research study in 2019 that said two-thirds of U.S. Catholics didn’t believe in transubstantiation or the Real Presence of Jesus — a core tenant of our faith — that refueled Farrell’s fire.

“The Eucharist is absolutely fundamental to our faith and there was (the Pew Research Poll) that said 69 percent of Catholics did not believe in the Real Presence and that’s rather catastrophic,” Farrell said. “If it is like that for something that is as absolutely fundamental as the Eucharist, think about what the knowledge level is for all of the lesser topics.”

With the blessing of Father Tony Childs, pastor at St. Michael the Archangel, Farrell spoke to the parishioners during weekend Masses in late 2023 and out of that was born the Bible study group “Shield of Faith.” They meet every Friday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the parish.  The inspiration for the name came from Ephesians 6:16: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

Father Childs, who also has offered parish Bible study classes and seasonal presentations during Lent and Advent, agrees that there is kind of a scriptural void and as such, efforts such as the Shield of Faith program, can only benefit those who read and study Scripture more frequently. In fact, it was Saint Jerome who well stated that “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

“The faithful would do well to reflect more on this, especially during the holy season of Lent,” Father Childs added.

During the weekly Bible study, Farrell has covered anything from the Gospels to the New Testament and from the Acts of the Apostles to the Letters from St. Paul. Everything is on the table from Scriptures to critical elements of the Catholic faith.

“It is very strongly scriptural based, but it is more like a Bible study on steroids, because you have a lot of other things mixed in with it,” he said. “When I covered the Eucharist, for example, I wasn’t just tossing in 100 or so biblical references. I was going back and looking at the fathers of the church. I had a very large section on that; how the understanding of the Eucharist evolved through apostolic times to when our doctrine was formalized. The majority of it is biblical but I use other sources as well.”

As far as how long the group will talk about a specific topic or “unit” as Farrell calls them, it all depends. The unit on the Eucharist lasted 19 weeks and Farrell has converted that into book form. Farrell sees his discussion on the Eucharist as a companion to Bishop Robert Barron’s book titled “Eucharist,” that was originally published in 2008.

“His writing was written at a level that might be challenging for some Catholics, you might want to have a dictionary on hand if you are reading his book,” Farrell said. “With mine, I tried to keep it really simple, where your typical high school student could read it.”

Farrell would love to expand the Bible study group to as many parishes as he can. When asked about that he said, “How many parishes do we have in the Diocese?” He wasn’t being flippant, that is just how strongly he feels about the Catholic faith.

“I would like to see a group like this in every single parish because if you think about training in the Catholic faith, there are programs for youngsters up to confirmation age but after that it seems to disappear,” he said. “I don’t know of anything except very limited things like RCIA, which might last a year or so, or pre-Cana classes, which might go on for a few weeks.

“But as far as something ongoing for adults, and my focus is adult catechesis where they are getting a long-lasting program, where they are getting their faith brought up to where their faith ought to be, I don’t know of anything anywhere in the Diocese and I am hoping to do something about that.”

If you are interested in learning more or bringing this Bible study program to your parish, email Farrell at [email protected].