Every Tribe by Sharon Prentis

Author:Sharon Prentis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978–0–281–08084–7
Publisher: SPCK
Published: 2019-03-14T01:51:57+00:00

Personal reflections

While Ceferino’s impact at the time was arguably limited, the potentiality of his example was given new life through the recognition afforded his legacy by Pope John Paul II. The beatification allowed for his story to be remembered and retold by a community whose history, fables and traditions are passed on orally. It seemed as though the trail had gone cold on tales of Ceferino’s doings, but where there is God there is a way. Gypsy culture has survived, evolved and endured for hundreds of years; its stories and its heroes are no exception. Modern communication methods such as the internet have provided platforms upon which Gypsy stories like Ceferino’s can be collected and shared; he may not be around to see it, but his descendants are here and are hearing.

Much of Gypsy culture is focused on heritage and family. Whether passing traditions to the next generation or honouring events and people of the past, survival of the collective is paramount, and sharing memories and inspirational accounts is part of that process. Ceferino is inspirational because he demonstrated to his own people that survival and progress do not have to be internalized. Conversely, to thrive physically and spiritually, one must face outwards rather than inwards. Through Christ, he could accomplish this. He never compromised his Gypsy values and traditions, and never hid his ethnic identity. Rather, he used what he had and who he was to show others in his community and beyond what they could be.

It could be argued that the way Ceferino conducted his life was amazing – that it embraced his ethnic identity yet went beyond it. There was nothing that made it exclusively ‘Gypsy’, other than the fact that Ceferino was a Gypsy. This is true – but it is a wonderful truth. Through Ceferino’s ‘normality’, he broke down further barriers (as he had always intended to do), to show that we are alike; we are all human. He never once denied who he was, yet he was never limited by what others thought he should be; he understood who he was in Christ. And perhaps in his death and through his beatification, Ceferino beautifully demonstrated for us a valuable, timeless and paradoxical message for our very human struggle to find our place on this earth and in this life: we are many tribes, but through Christ we are one voice.

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