One month of blogging

Today on the Feast of St. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, I have completed one month's worth of blogging. So far I have managed to keep it up despite my busy schedule of Ora et Labora, not to mention singing in the choir. I will admit I could produce some far more interesting posts if it was not for the fact that I've had to exercise considerable discretion in personal matters of myself and others! So I shall be keeping up with it as best as I can!

As I expected I have received feedback that this blog is 'opinionated' and 'laying down the law'. Indeed Matthew Doyle has described this blog as the 'Expectation of Oliver.' Well what can I say? That may well be the case, but I can say that I am not doing this to exercise my personal ego, gain any popularity or win anyone's favour. All I can expect is notoriety and to have my fingers badly burnt! If anyone dislikes the views that are expressed, the fact is that nobody is compelled to look at this blog and listen to what I am saying! Blogging is an open forum that is uncensored, uncontrolled and completely democratic.

To say that one should not be opinionated is almost to say that one should not express any beliefs as true and hold other views as false. Which is tantamount to saying that there is no such thing as objective truth, and that we cannot know objective right and wrong: as Cardinal Newman saw, the classic dogma of liberalism. We are now in a society that holds 'dogmatism' and 'opinionated beliefs' as moral faults in need of correction if not severe punishment. The only dogmatic truth is that there is no truth, and woe betide anyone who thinks otherwise.

Nevertheless I shall speak out in season and out of season. For too long the church in England has done nothing but to seek acceptance and compromise with English society and the establishment, maintaining a policy of 'no strong statements'. In ceasing to follow in the footsteps of the Forty Martyrs and to be a sign of contradiction, it has suffered mass apostasy and collapse, and found itself acquiescing in the culture of death. It is time for the laity to speak out, to break their silence,and to make the church in these islands a witness once more.

On a lighter note, tomorrow we are singing Lennox Berkeley's Missa Brevis at High Mass, which I am (but not everyone else!) much looking forward to. Also late next week I will hopefully take a short break on the Island of Malta for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and plan to take lots of pictures. Whether I shall keep posting depends on what Internet access I shall have, and the time I have available. Stay tuned!