Detroit — It was a Holy Week he’ll never forget — and the Triduum hadn’t even approached yet.
Fr. José Arturo Cepeda, who at 41 may even be considered young in his current post as rector of Assumption Seminary, stood in front of a welcoming crowd at Detroit’s seminary on April 18 after having been introduced as Detroit’s 28th auxiliary bishop.
Snow blanketed the lawn outside the window.
“Thank you very much for the snow,” he said, drawing a chuckle from the gathering, in a city where he’d never set foot before outside the airport. “I have not had the chance to see snow in the longest time. And as Archbishop Vigneron said this morning, it was planned.”
The exchange warmed a new, and unexpected, relationship between the Texas priest and the Detroit faithful. And the question Catholics in the Detroit area have about their newest auxiliary bishop — specifically, ‘Who is he?’ — promises to be answered over time.
A brief intro
For his part, Bishop Cepeda considers himself blessed that God would lead him to be a Detroit auxiliary bishop. It fits a pattern in his ministry, he says.
“When I was first ordained, I said I’m open to wherever the spirit moves us in ministry,” he said in an interview shortly before the April 18 announcement. “I’m very happy as a priest and serving the people of God. That I know. And God has been very good to me and blessed me with a number of gifts, which are meant to be shared … I am just a happy camper, in other words.”
One aspect of Bishop Cepeda that he promises that people will know soon is that he is a social character who likes to play host and loves to visit with God’s people.
“I am just a passionate priest, and I really love to bring the Good News,” he said. “I have lots of energy. And you’ll see me everywhere. I love to travel. I love to visit. I love to explore. I love to read. I love to go to the altar. I love to go to classes. I love art.”
He admits that he doesn’t know much about Detroit, but is eager to learn. He says he’s read articles in the New York Times about the tough choices needing to be made in the city, but he’s “excited to serve” because he knows there’s a lot of goodness in the economically troubled city.
He’s excited that Detroit has a large Hispanic population, but says he has much to learn about the makeup of the Hispanic community. After all, he says it’s not surprising to see a big city with a big Hispanic population.
“In large cities, we have large numbers of Hispanics,” he says. “We are everywhere.”
A confession
Bishop Cepeda did have one confession to make — of the non-sacramental variety — prior to being introduced to the Detroit faithful.
“I am extremely afraid of having to drive in snow,” he said, and reiterated at his introduction April 18. “I have no idea how to do that.”
The Archdiocese of Detroit’s communications director, Ned McGrath, presented Bishop Cepeda with a windshield ice scraper at the introduction. The Texas priest looked a little confused, but then jokingly asked if it came with an instruction manual (at least we hope he was joking).
Regardless, driving in snow — and on black ice, and in freezing rain — is one skill he’ll need to pick up. He’s been advised, too, that it’s popular to drive a Ford, Chevy or Chrysler in the Motor City.
“I have to drive with the People of God,” he said.
Media ministry
There is another quick way Detroit’s Catholics can learn a bit more about Bishop Cepeda. He has hosted a television show on Catholic Television of San Antonio.
He did so for a few years as a newly ordained priest, then resumed his television ministry following his studies at the St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University in Rome.
His more recent endeavor is a bilingual show — Spanish and English — called “The Calling.” It can be seen online at www.ctsa.tv/video_on_demand.
“I believe in media very much and the power media has to evangelize in the world,” Bishop Cepeda said. “I’ve been very much blessed in the Archdiocese of San Antonio because we do have a TV station.”
“The Calling” is a vocations-centered show. Some episodes are entirely in Spanish, some are entirely in English.
Bishop Cepeda says he’s always enjoyed bringing people into the television studio from different parishes in the San Antonio archdiocese.
“They’d come with their guitars and music, so we’d have an audience there, and I’d be able to reach out further with the cameras,” he said.
Guests typically included local priests, sisters and even bishops.
As for the show’s theme, Bishop Cepeda says that — even before and after serving as vocations director for the San Antonio archdiocese — he always felt it was important to share a vocations-centered message with Catholics.
“I do believe that it is God who calls you,” he said. “We respond faithfully, but it is God who makes the first move.”
Saying ‘yes’ like Mary
Throughout his life, Bishop Cepeda says he’s always relied on heavenly intercessors for help.
“I was very much influenced by that part of Catholicism,” he said. “Growing up, I have always liked studies, but my favorite book was always ‘Life of the Saints.’”
Born on St. Isidore the Farmer’s feast day, he has a connection with him. St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, St. Martin DePorres and St. Louis the King all have special significance to him, too.
But in following the calling in his own life, he says the greatest example given by a saint is Mary’s “yes” to be the Mother of God.
As he sets his eyes on Detroit — where he will begin ministry following the term at Assumption Seminary — he says he’s confident that God will give him countless graces, so long as he maintains a humble acceptance of His will.
“God is the one who does all the work and he gives us the grace we need,” Bishop Cepeda said. “All we need to do is say ‘Yes,’ just like Mary.”
“That’s my attitude,” he added. “I will learn much from the Church of Detroit.”
