{"id":1983,"date":"2017-12-04T17:31:04","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T07:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stgeorgeseastivanhoe.org\/wordpress\/?p=1983"},"modified":"2017-12-04T17:31:04","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T07:31:04","slug":"the-reverend-canon-dr-ray-cleary-sermon-for-the-first-sunday-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stgeorgeseastivanhoe.org\/wordpress\/the-reverend-canon-dr-ray-cleary-sermon-for-the-first-sunday-of-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reverend Canon Dr. Ray Cleary \u2013 Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADVENT 1 \u2013 2017<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

St Georges Ivanhoe East <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Helder Camara \u2013 onetime Catholic Archbishop in South America, a strong advocate for the poor and dispossessed, and a champion of Human Rights, wrote these words:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I dream alone<\/span><\/p>\n

that remains a dream;<\/span><\/p>\n

When we dream together<\/span><\/p>\n

that is the beginning of reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of us dream from time to time. Our dreams can be imaginative thoughts we experience while awake or asleep. Sometimes we indulge our dreams with wishful thinking or fantasies. Our indigenous brothers and sisters describe their history, spirituality and culture in what they describe as the \u201cdreamtime\u2019, the place and space for their beliefs and understanding of life and its relationship with Mother Earth. I wonder what you dreamed about last night. {Do not worry you do not have to share them}<\/span><\/p>\n

In our sleep, dreams often appear to come from nowhere. Where did that come from we ask ourselves. Some of our dreams frighten us because they raise aspects of our thoughts that we find distasteful or painful and often challenge our identity of who we believe we think we are. We wonder where such ideas, thoughts or experiences have come from. <\/span><\/p>\n

Parents, at the birth of a child, couples who commit themselves to marriage, or a new graduate entering their chosen profession, dream and hope for the future. Dreams and hopes give us adrenalin; they provide the impetus for our daily living and our relationships. Sometimes our dreams can be impractical or impossible to us but not to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dreaming and hoping seems to be difficult for many of us in our own Church. We often want to cling to the familiar and comfortable and seem unable to dream of a future that embraces the different or challenging. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a visit to Australia in 2002, the now Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, spoke about the task of the Church as being to inspire the people of God to express the hope of God\u2019s dream for the creation, and to be distinctive by its prayer and worship. He went on to say how worship is the drawing together of the earthly life and human experiences we all share together, and when our Eucharistic gatherings are devoid of the experiences of our human family, our worship is diminished.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like the wider community, we are tempted are we not to put aside our dreams and possibilities that may be too challenging and costly, or that threatens us and divert our thoughts into reality TV, backyard renovations, the Great Outdoors and, in my case, Irish music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we begin the season of Advent:<\/span><\/p>\n