KILPAUK-CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025: Deepagam Lay Collaborators have launched a Bible Course for Laity at Deepagam, Chennai Salesian Catechetical Center. The launch event was attended by twenty-five course participants. The purpose was to reinitiate Bible Catechesis for the laity and form a study group that will aid the Anbiums in the parishes for the in-depth faith formation of the laity.
 

The live-cast event was marked with introductory prayer, bhajan, and lectio divina on Mark 13:28-31. Rev. Fr. John Christy catechized the gathering biblically using the New Testament figure St. Barnabas as a motif for how the Bible can be useful to apply God’s Word in life and community. He highlighted various passages from the Acts of the Apostle for representative leadership, positive thinking, and forgiving attitude. He also taught the memory technique to enumerate the list of Bible by heart.
 

Mr. Devaraj (lay collaborator), while stressing the importance of the Word of God and the Magisterium, said, “In every family, the mother is the first catechism teacher and Bible teacher too.”
 

The plan of the Bible course is the formation of the study group that will meet every month to share life inspiration from the Bible. It will also foster the Illam Thedi Irai Arasu (BCC) program, wherein the Word of God is the core of its pastoral ventures in the Anbiums.
 

There was a flip-side to the program in which Ayyadurai Bhagavathar was presented as an illustration for classical music catechesis and inculturation initiative by the laity when the missionary roles were limited in nineteenth-century South India.
 

Rev. Fr. Don Bosco, Provincial, appreciated the efforts of Fr. Jesudoss, Director of Deepagam, and gave his inaugural message that as we live in the Trinitarian God, we must live for others and let others live. To us, Christ Jesus lives in us. He stressed the importance of prayer for not only the religious but also the laity.
 

He concluded the ceremony, saying, “Jesus’ ministry continues through Gospel values, an ever-fresh challenge for the laity.” “The followers of Christ will do greater works than Jesus himself when they are with him,” he remarked.
 

Among the participants, Nellai Anthony Raj family members, notably Mrs. Vimala (great-granddaughter of Kayathaaru The. Mu. Ayyadurai Bhagavathar, 1884-1948), were present, who sang Kangalai Yeredupen. The Bible course was termed as ‘Illam Thedi Viviliam’ by participants present in the first meeting of the program.