Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
11 February 2026
It seems like only yesterday that I was standing at the top of the hill for the 65th anniversary of Saint Leo’s Catholic College, and for that wonderful Rededication ceremony and blessing of the Chapel and College campus in February 2021. And yet today we gather once more, five years on, to celebrate a truly significant milestone, the 70th anniversary of the opening of this College.
Seventy years of faith and learning. Seventy years of students, teachers, families, Religious and lay staff. Seventy years of hope, challenge, growth, and service to the Church and the wider community.
Today we rightly honour the strong foundations upon which Saint Leo’s was built, inspired by the charism of Blessed Edmund Rice, and sustained through the dedication of the founding Religious Brothers and generations of committed educators. That mission continues today through Catholic Schools Broken Bay, and through the daily work of those who teach, support, guide, and care for the young people entrusted to this College.
Anniversaries, however, are not only about remembering the past. They invite us to reflect on who we are now, and who we are called to become. That invitation is beautifully expressed in the College motto, words that you see every day on the crest, the uniform, and the letterhead: Lex Dei in Corde, God’s law in the heart. We know that laws matter. External laws help to create right order in society. They protect the common good. They respect the rights and duties of individuals and communities. Without them, life together quickly becomes unjust and unsafe.
Yet Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today that a truly good and faithful life cannot be shaped by rules alone. What ultimately guides our actions, our choices, and our relationships is what is written within the heart. When Jesus speaks to the crowd in the Gospel of Mark, he shifts the focus away from what is merely external and directs our attention inward. The issue is not simply behaviour, but the heart itself.
And while the Gospel names the things that can flow from an unformed heart, Jesus is pointing us toward something far more hopeful. The heart needs a law, but not simply a list of rules. The heart needs love. The love of God is the first and most important law of the heart. This is the heart of the College motto. Lex Dei in Corde does not mean living under pressure or restriction. It means being in right relationship with God, with others, and with oneself. It means allowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to become the blueprint for life. And that is because when God’s love is truly written in the heart, it shapes the whole person.
The Scriptures we hear today speak directly to this vision. In the First Reading from the Book of Kings, the Queen of Sheba is amazed by the wisdom of King Solomon. She recognises that his greatness lies not only in knowledge or intelligence, but in wisdom, the ability to live well, to judge rightly, and to order life according to God’s ways. Knowledge matters. Learning opens doors and expands horizons. Saint Leo’s exists to foster learning and excellence. But wisdom goes deeper. Wisdom shows us how to live, how to choose well, and how to place what we know at the service of others. This pattern of learning, knowledge, and wisdom is encouraged and cultivated here at Saint Leo’s. It is a pattern for life.
When God’s law is written in the heart, when love becomes the guiding principle, the result is not fear or limitation, but freedom and fruitfulness. From such a heart flows a life marked by chastity and respect, generosity and reverence for life, faithfulness and detachment, kindness and truthfulness, purity of heart and gratitude, charity in speech, humility, and wisdom. These are the fruits of a disciple who allows the love of God to shape every part of life.
By placing the words Lex Dei in Corde so visibly at the centre of its identity, your college makes a quiet yet powerful statement to the world. It proclaims that Jesus Christ is at the heart of this community, and that the Good News of his Gospel is not only true, but good for all people.
Saint Leo’s holds a special place in the life of the Diocese of Broken Bay, as my Cathedral College and as a vital part of the Cathedral Parish. What happens here matters, not only for this community, but for the future of the Diocese and the Church more broadly.
As we look to the years ahead, it is the students, families, teachers, educators, staff, volunteers, and helpers who are shaping the next chapter of this story, establishing an ongoing legacy that will serve Broken Bay for many years to come.
What begins in this College as a place of faith and learning is meant to equip each person not only for a career or a qualification, but for a lifetime of meaning, service, and hope. More than that, it prepares hearts and minds for eternal life with God.
On this 70th anniversary, we give thanks for all that has been, we recommit ourselves to the mission entrusted to us, and we pray that God’s law, God’s love, will continue to be written deeply in every heart here, now and for generations to come.