A simple, unassuming, hardworking, loving, and committed religious and prayerful Divine Word Missionary Brother Juniper (Joachim Kerketta) passed away at around ten o'clock on January 3 in St. Joseph's Home, Catholic Ashram Palda, a town in Indore district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
He was 92.
The reason for his demise is pure old age, and he was also an asthma patient all through his life.
In every winter and rainy season, he had repeated attacks of asthma. He was administered the sacrament of the sick several times. Despite Doctor Khapra almost giving up hope and declaring that he would soon sink, Bro. Juniper surprised Confreres and the doctors by being resilient and returning to normalcy soon after.
After a few days, he had almost stopped eating and was becoming very weak.
Even on the day of his death, he had a light breakfast and then retired. Fr. Sagayadass, assistant at St. Joseph's Home, went to call him for a break at ten; he found him sinking and immediately contacted Fr. Nicholas Martis, the rector of the house. They rushed him to Roberts Nursing Home, where he was officially declared dead.
Born at Jhunmur Parish, Sundergarh, Rourkela diocese of Odisha state, on May 15, 1931, to the late Mr. Marcus Kerketta and the late Mrs. Susana Kiro, Joachim Kerketta joined the Catholic Ashram Palda for Brotherhood on March 1, 1951.
After a year of postulancy, he entered the brother's novitiate at Catholic Ashram Palda and took his first vows on December 21, 1954. His perpetual vows here were on December 21, 1960.
During his novitiate, he took the name Juniper. As a postulant, Joachim worked in the bakery of the Catholic Ashram Palda, where he and his team baked brown bread daily to feed over 150 inmates.
He soon became a master baker and could easily bake delicious cakes and confectionaries. Later, he oversaw the bakery in the Catholic Ashram Palda.
His journey began as one of the staff members of Sat Prachar Press for a year in 1963. He served at St. Francis Xavier's Church, Bhagor, Jhabua, for a year, from 1964 to 1965. From 1965 to 1970, he returned to the Catholic Ashram Palda as a staff member.
From 1970 to 1971, he assisted the mission station at Roshini, Khandwa. Following this once again, he returned to Catholic Ashram Palda as a staff member in 1971 and remained here for the next nine years until 1980. During this time, he also participated in the Nemi Tertiate Course and visited both Italy and Germany.
This was the only trip outside the province except for visiting his near and dear ones.
He enjoyed his visit to Nemi, Rome, and Germany. He had booked his flight back to India from Frankfurt. He was excited about the beautiful display of attractive items on the windows.
After checking in, he went for 'window shopping', since there was sufficient time left for getting into the car. As a result, he got delayed and rushed back to the boarding counter when his name was announced through the loudspeaker system.
When asked where he had been, he quickly responded that he had spent extra time in the lavatory. That saved his face on that occasion, and he safely entered the plane!
Having returned to Indore, he once again went back to Roshini in 1980 and assisted the mission till 1991. After that, he spent a year at the Catholic Church in Channera. In 1992, the Catholic Church assigned him to St. Joseph's Home, Seva Sadan Campus, Indore, where he served as one of the staff members. After retiring in 2000, he became one of the inmates at St. Joseph's Home. In 2022, when the retirement home was relocated to the campus of Catholic Ashram Palda, with better facilities, Bro. Juniper was also transferred to St. Joseph's Home, Palda.
Juniper was a conscientious, hardworking SVD religious who spent his life feeding and serving others. He also enjoyed community life, which, though quiet, was equally humorous, and enjoyed lighter moments with confreres.
He gracefully retired, never shouting or being upset, and was satisfied with the minimum comforts. The inmates of the house and the province admired his wonderful nature.
A drink, in a way, was also medicine for him and kept him warm and healthy. Come winter, he would suffer from acute asthma for a time, with paroxysms of difficult breathing.
He celebrated his Silver Jubilee of Vows in 1979, his Ruby Jubilee in 1994, and his Golden Jubilee in 2004.
He enjoyed every bit of these celebrations and annually looked forward to his home visit to be with his relatives and childhood friends.
The funeral took place on January 5, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in the Holy Spirit Church, Catholic Ashram Palda. Divine Word bishop Devprasad Ganawa of Udaipur was the main celebrant, together with Provincial Fr. Rathinam Maria Paul Raj, Confreres, religious sisters, and friends from Indore.
After the concelebrated Eucharist, they took his body to the Garden of Resurrection for burial. May he rest in peace.- With inputs from Fr. Clarence Scrambical, SVD
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