Bishop Zarama appoints new chaplain for JPII

We are excited to share that Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama has appointed Fr. Jim Magee chaplain of John Paul II Catholic High School effective June 25, 2019. In addition to his appointment to JPII, Fr. Magee has been named administrator of St. Catherine of Siena in Tarboro.

Fr. Magee grew up in North Carolina but moved to Norfolk, Virginia after high school to become a firefighter. But he began looking deeper into his faith when, because of epilepsy, a seizure forced him to leave the fire department. He enrolled in college at Elizabeth City State University and from that point on things “just started clicking,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I was older with a better view of things.”

Thoughts of the priesthood, which first crossed his mind in high school, came to his mind, but left again. “I actually got engaged [to be married] in college, so obviously I stopped thinking about the priesthood … [but] after things broke off, I started thinking about it again,” he said.

This time he examined a vocation at a “totally different level.” He read more. He prayed more. He started going to daily Mass. And one Ash Wednesday, as he exited Holy Family Church, Father Jim Buchholz invited him to a vocations dinner. Despite hesitation, he went to the dinner. He began to feel good about seriously discerning a vocation. After he was accepted to seminary, that good feeling turned to great, he said.

Fr. Magee was ordained in June of 2017 and has been parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena in Wake Forest for the past two years.

We look forward to Fr. Magee joining the JPII family!

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