Catholic Education Week 2026 – Southern Tasmania
Memorial of St Clare of Assisi
There is a wonderful sentence in today’s first reading which could almost be the motto of Catholic education:
“I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.”
St Paul is not drifting through life. He knows there is something ahead of him worth pursuing.
And that matters enormously, because one of the great questions facing every young person is not simply, ‘What will I do when I leave school?’ It is a much deeper question:
‘What is worth giving my life to?’
You can have an excellent education and still not know the answer.
You can achieve outstanding results, have hundreds of online connections, possess the latest technology, and still wonder quietly: What is all this for?
Last year Pope Leo spoke to thousands of students gathered in Rome. He told them not to settle for appearances or passing fashions. Instead, he encouraged them to say within themselves: “I dream of more, Lord; I long for something greater.”¹
I long for something greater.
That is St Paul today. Everything else, he says, is secondary compared with “the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”.
That is St Clare too.
We celebrate her today during this special Year of St Francis. Clare belonged to a wealthy family in Assisi. Her future had been planned for her. There were expectations about whom she would marry and the comfortable life she might enjoy.
But Clare wanted something greater.
She had seen what happened when Francis took the Gospel seriously. So, one night she left her family home and entrusted her life to Christ. She discovered that surrendering herself to God did not make her life smaller. It made her free.
That is why the words we sing today matter: I surrender to you. Christian surrender is not giving up. It is placing our lives into the hands of the One who knows what they can become.
And that speaks powerfully to our students.
Pope Leo told young people something wonderfully direct: “Do not let the algorithm write your story!”²
Your story is too precious for that.
Do not allow social media to decide what makes you beautiful. Do not allow other people to determine your worth. Do not imagine that your ATAR, your sporting ability, your popularity, or the number of likes beside your name tells the truth about who you are.
God has already spoken that truth.
You are created by him. You are loved by him. Christ has called you by name.
His word can become a lamp when the next step is uncertain and a light when the road ahead seems dark.
Pope Leo says that education should help young people develop an interior life, because we can know an enormous amount about the world and still remain strangers to our own hearts.³
That is one reason Catholic schools exist.
We certainly want you to learn mathematics and literature, science and history. We want you to discover your gifts and use them well.
But we want more for you than that.
We want you to discover the God who has been searching for you.
And to our teachers, principals and Catholic Education staff: thank you.
Pope Leo reminded educators that classrooms, laboratories and libraries are important, but they are not enough. Education ultimately happens in the profound encounter between people.⁴ A young person may forget a lesson we taught but remember for decades the teacher who noticed that something was wrong; the teacher who believed in them when they had stopped believing in themselves.
The Pope says beautifully: “Sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: love is needed.”⁵
That is the particular genius of Catholic education.
And then Peter speaks in the Gospel: “What about us? We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?”
Perhaps every disciple eventually asks that question.
Jesus does not promise Peter an easy life. Nor does he promise Clare one. He promises something greater: a life enlarged by belonging to him.
So, young people, dream big—but dream bigger than success.
Teachers, never underestimate what God may be doing through an ordinary school day.
And all of us gathered for Catholic Education Week: let us keep pressing forward, as St Paul does, because Christ is ahead of us and Christ is among us.
There are a thousand reasons to bless the Lord.
There is one great reason to surrender our lives to him.
And when we do, we discover that the future does not finally belong to algorithms, fear or darkness.
Our God will reign.
Most Rev. Anthony J. Ireland
Archbishop of Hobart
13 August 2026
Footnotes
- Pope Leo XIV, Address to Students participating in the Jubilee of the World of Education, 30 October 2025: “Do not settle for appearances or fads … ‘I dream of more, Lord; I long for something greater; inspire me!’”
- Ibid.: “Do not let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors yourselves; use technology wisely, but do not let technology use you.”
- Ibid. Pope Leo identifies “education of the interior life” as a central challenge, observing that knowledge is insufficient if young people do not know who they are or the meaning of life.
- Pope Leo XIV, Address to Educators on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, 31 October 2025. Pope Leo teaches that educational facilities are means, while genuine education requires the “profound encounter between people.”
- Ibid.: “Sharing knowledge is not enough for teaching: love is needed.”
Sources: Pope Leo XIV — Address to Students, 30 October 2025 · Pope Leo XIV — Address to Educators, 31 October 2025