The Church is One
(Rom 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC* 813- 822)

Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on. The Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph 5:23-32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.

His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles (Jude 3). This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us (Phil. 1:27, 2:2).

Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church’s official teachers – the pope and the bishops united with him – have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12-13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.

The Church is Holy
(Eph 5:25-27, Rev 19:7-8, CCC 823-829)

By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as he is holy. This doesn’t mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt 21-23).

But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (cf. Eph. 5:26).

The Church is Catholic
(Matt 28:19-20, Rev 5:9-10, CCC 830-856)

Jesus’ Church is called Catholic (“universal” in Greek) because it is his to all people . He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of “all nations” (Matt 28:19-20).

For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).

Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is  still sending out missionaries to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19).

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, “The Catholic Church,” at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’ time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

The Church is Apostolic
*Eph. 2:19-20, CCC 857-865)

The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition (2 Tim. 2:2).

These beliefs include the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through a priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary’s special role, and much more – even the doctrine of apostolic succession itself.

Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim.

(Taken from Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth)

It’s from Rp 22,500. Limited period only…

Her sister replied, “I don’t know I thought you knew!”

“Well, if we don’t know where we’re going, how will we know when we get there?” the rider responded.

Life is a lot like that. You’ll never get where you want to go unless you decide where it is you want to go. What’s your mission? College? Career? Family? Before you start the trip, think about going in the right direction and about the route you’re going to take. And be sure to pack your backpack!

If you want to get somewhere, know where you’re going.

(Taken from Minute Motivators for Teens by Stan Toler)

The first day the boy had driven six nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

The first page of section 1 of “The Road Less Travelled“, by M. Scott Peck, really caught my attention.

Life is difficult.
This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths*. It is a great truth because once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters … Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? … Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life’s problems. Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems.

(Taken from “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck)

Sometimes, I wish that I never know some things. As my English teacher mentioned a few years ago, “the more you learn, the more you don’t know.” As you gain knowledge, you’d realize that there are too many things and you only have a short time here. So you need to make a wise decision on how to manage your time carefully. You can spend a day doing nothing and you would never get back those time.

Thus, it’s always important for me to decide whether I want to know something as it could always give me more unnecessary things to think about…

Computer (failed)
SMP 3A – 15 students
SMP 3B – 8 students

Religion (failed the exam):
SD 4A – 4 students
SMP 1A – 5
SMP 2 – 2

I’ll do the total result very soon.