Ted Magee

Christian Brother – educator - leader

Lionel Edward Magee (Ted) was born in Bundaberg in the mid-forties. His early life was spent on the family sugar-cane farm at Gooburrum, a district north of the city. His early schooling was at a one-teacher school a short distance from his home. When his parents felt he was mature enough, he bicycled to Christian Brothers High School, Bundaberg for Grades 5 – 10. On concluding Year 10, he entered the Christian Brothers’ Juniorate in Strathfield in 1960. His story is not dissimilar from that of many young men of the time: leaving home, following a dream, blissfully unaware of the life-long daily commitment they were making, and, trusting in the Spirit that moved them - first to listen and then to heed God’s call to follow in the footsteps of Edmund and all who had been inspired by his Charism. The following is a reflection of fifty years: 1960 – 2010.

On Saturday 30 January, with family and friends, I celebrated the day fifty years ago when I and a group of like-minded young men boarded the Sydney-bound train from the old South Brisbane station for the journey of a life-time. With Ephrem Cryan, the Vocations Director, as our supervisor, we took the overnight journey as an opportunity to get to know each other or to sit with our thoughts of what it was that we had begun.

On the Sunday, we would have entered the gates at the end of Albert Road, Strathfield, Sydney and a new era in our lives began.

I am reminded of the comment made to us as a Province Leadership Team in 2003 – “The train is moving and you are on it” – which is fairly apt for me over the past fifty years.

The train has certainly moved many, many kilometers along the track; has stopped at various stations; has had a few unheralded idles; has ventured on tracks which were not charted; has had a few brushes with various obstacles on the way; has been so close to near-disasters; has felt itself shunted into a siding; but has always been full of life and vitality due to the passengers who have boarded along the journey.

Yes, some are still on board; some have disembarked at various stations; and some are still waiting to board as the train moves on – perhaps at a slower rate of travel now but still relentlessly moving forward.

WHAT A RIDE IT HAS BEEN!

And you, my brothers and friends, are on this same train with me. Admittedly we may be in different carriages and we now may be finding it more difficult to move from one carriage to another, but we are all well aware that the power energising the train is not ours but the spirit of Jesus and Edmund and that power remains undiminished.

The analogy of train/passengers/stations/journey fits my life. The analogy of engine/signals/tracks is God’s work – the direction, the power, the paths are not mine.

There was for me in the early stages of this journey a speed, a sense that the world needed to move fast and I needed to be in the thick of things. I loved my school ministry and I loved the role as Principal for some twenty or so years. I desired change and strove to work with like-minded people who were advocates of that change.

Since 2003 my journey has slowed and I am content with the change of speed. It is not an uphill climb but a chance to reflect, to contemplate, to transform and eventually be transfigured. It is a time to give back to my brothers and the network the many blessings I have received on the journey. In Leadership, and lately as Coordinator of Brothers’ Formation and Cluster Leader, I am happy to walk the carriages and share my brother’s and sister’s life and story, and discern how we together can be light for the world and continue to bring to life what it is that God and our Congregation now calls us to.

Ubuntu – I am because you are – gives me hope and consolation. The “you” is ever changing and growing with wonderful people inspired by the Charism of Edmund. As this growth occurs so must I grow, change, actively accept, and actively respond. What a fantastic privilege!

I am grateful to all who have been part of this continuing journey and I look forward to welcoming, while I am able, those who board in the future just as I was welcomed, nurtured, and loved over the past fifty years. Our journey will continue. Where? We do not know. But, that is Mystery – the Mystery whom we call God. And that Mystery is our comfort, our strength, and our heritage.

published March 2010