Jesus told Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life, and the Preface of the Mass for the Dead reminds us that, “For your faithful people life is changed not taken away.” So though Fr. Joe Prabhu has passed away from us, he is still with us, though in a different manner.
After completing his matriculation studies from St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra, Joe joined the Society of Jesus. His late elder brother Claude was also a Jesuit. Joe was basically a school man. He did his B.A. in Marathi from Sahitya Parishad, Pune and his B.Ed. from Tilak College of Education, Pune. He was a very good Mathematics teacher and was also very good in accounts. He was the Treasurer at some of our parishes for several years. He studied Indian classical music as a hobby and had his own sitar which he played when needed.
Joe epitomized a spirit of service and Jesuit obedience. He worked in some of the difficult areas and situations in the Bombay Province: In Manickpur – school and parish, in Dhule -school and parish, in St Roque’s Gokhivare parish and in St. Ignatius Church, Ambadi. In the rural areas, he is remembered for his work in the Uplat new school as Head Master and also as Manager of our Talasari schools for tribals. Wherever he worked, he brought up these Institutions. Another striking quality of his personality was his austerity. He was a man of great self-discipline, and in the school he came across as a strict disciplinarian. Whenever you met him, he always had a trademark pleasant smile.
Today, the Bombay Province of the Jesuits has lost one of its senior members, who has done us proud by the quality of his priestly and religious life.
Kenneth A. Dsouza, SJ
