Seventeenth was a date destined by God for Fr. Erwin Lazrado. God chose it to give him life in July of 1962 and chose it to call him back in the April of 2021. In between, a life just three months short of 59 years was lived with a spirit of a sportsman that he was, and with a spirit of a warrior that he turned into, in the last eight years of his bone myeloma.

Erwin kept climbing tough hikes of missionary life leaving behind the city-bred softness. The Bandra boy who walked into the pre-novitiate in 1980 in jeans and guitar, later clearly defined his priesthood by closeness to people. He chose to get ordained not in his native Mumbai but in a parish in the heart of Gujarat in December 1996. This missionary spirit developed in him a style of ministry which emphasized lay collaboration and participation.

The seeds of befriending youth at Novitiate Sunday ministry flowered in his regency at Ashadeep Youth Centre. His orientation to the ministry of youth bloomed into his active involvement in AICUF and later becoming the National Coordinator of the Jesuit Youth Ministry in South Asia (JYMSA).

Coming in touch with renowned lawyers, he allowed himself to be groomed into the area of social justice. He took a degree in Law as an external student and oriented himself to the Dalits and women of Central Gujarat who came for legal aid to Ashadeep.

Erwin’s straightforward or sometimes upfront demeanor were only part and parcel of this simplicity. He could befriend people young and old, urban and rural, elite and poor, all alike. Erwin knew no ethnicity.

A man of music, sports, commerce and law, who shouldered the responsibilities as social activist, youth director, pastor, Revisor Arcarum (Internal finance auditor), Erwin was a ‘man for all seasons.’ Due to COVID protocol, we could not have his last parting memory. Thankfully, Erwin will continue in our memories as one who still lives, in Spirit!

Vinayak Jadav, SJ