Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

For a Doctrinal Homily Outline for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, click here.

• Central idea: Living Temples.
• Doctrine: Grace.
• Practical application: Understanding the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote as a Jewish exile in Babylon. Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon were destroyed. In his vision of a new temple, he saw a spring welling up it that flowed all the way down to the Dead Sea, which it made fresh. The angel tells Ezekiel that the source of this stream is the sanctuary, the holiest place in the temple. Along this stream every living creature would multiply and the waters would be filled with fish. Along the shores, trees would grow bearing fruit each month. Even their leaves would serve for healing. Every place this spring’s water touched became another garden of Eden, beautiful, full of life, and beneficial to man.

What can this spring be but divine grace, flowing out from God’s dwelling to humanity and creation, giving life where there was death, healing where there were wounds, and sustenance where there was want? How can we Christians not see this spring as the Sacraments of the Church, with their graces flowing out to humanity through their source, Jesus Christ who is the New Temple of Jerusalem?