May 18, 2013 / Maria News

Congress Receives Irrefutable Evidence of IRS Harassment of Pro-Life Organizations

(May 17, 2013 – Chicago) Today, the Thomas More Society offered over 150 pages of analysis and evidence to the House Ways and Means Committee about repeated IRS harassment of pro-life organizations. At the request of Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL), Thomas More Society President Thomas Brejcha, Executive Director Peter Breen, and Special Counsel Sally Wagenmaker, prepared the legal memorandum with solid evidence of IRS harassment of pro-life organizations dating back to 2009.

The memo details the history of IRS misconduct in the cases of three organizations represented by the Thomas More Society. The abuse dates back further than the now publicized 2010 complaints and extends beyond the IRS’s recently exposed Cincinnati office to also include the tax agency’s California operations in the charges of blatant bias.

The IRS office in El Monte, California, began harassing Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas in 2011. In a series of questions penned by Exempt Organization Specialist Tyrone Thomas from the California office, the IRS asked a series of unwarranted questions ordering Christian Voices for Life without any foundation, to explain its content, message, and prayers as if they were engaging in highly offensive or criminal behavior.

Coalition for Life of Iowa found itself in the IRS’s crosshairs when the group applied for tax exempt status in October 2008. Nearly ten months of interrogation about the group’s opposition to Planned Parenthood included a demand by a Ms. Richards from the IRS’ Cincinnati office unlawfully insisted that all board members sign a sworn declaration promising not to picket/protest Planned Parenthood. Further questioning by the IRS requested detailed information about the content of the group’s prayer meetings, educational seminars, and signs their members hold outside Planned Parenthood.

In yet a third matter, an IRS agent in their Chicago office repeatedly harassed Daniel and Angela Michael of Small Victories, a pro-life organization, with an intrusive investigation, calling the leaders every 2-3 weeks over the course of 2011, beginning in January of that year. The IRS officially closed its investigation in January 2012, having found no illegal activities.

To read the entire Thomas More Society memo to Congressman Aaron Schock of the House Ways and Means Committee click here

About the Thomas More Society
Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm that exists to restore respect in law for life, marriage, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago, the Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro-bono professional legal services from local trial courts all the way to the United States Supreme Court. www.thomasmoresociety.org

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May 14, 2013 / Maria News

Natural and Spiritual Life

By Deacon Antonio Sandoval

All living creatures “desire” to continue living and resist or flee from anything or anyone that threatens their life.  Humans are no exception to this general rule.  But in addition, humans also know that physical death cannot be avoided.  There are numerous enemies of human life:  abortion, war, accidents, euthanasia, and a host of diseases.  Even if we don’t fall prey to these enemies, with aging, all bodily organs and their vital functions necessary to sustain life decline.  Ultimately, this decline crosses a point of no return where all vital activity ceases.  We die!

Throughout history men have searched for the fountain of perpetual youth.  Some have proposed special diets, regimens of exercise, and exotic dietary supplements, all to no avail.  A universal elixir of natural life doesn’t exist.  By birth we are condemned to die.  It is as if life itself is a terminal illness that ultimately claims all of us as its victims.

To avoid depression and despair we need to be reminded that we are unique amongst all creatures.  We have two forms of life, natural and supernatural, also called spiritual life.

Let us compare.  Natural life begins with conception, and then continuously and irreversibly progresses towards its conclusion, death and decay.  Spiritual life, by Baptism, emerges from the death caused by sin (both original and personal).  It is a life that never ends that even offers the possibility of eternal happiness.

Natural age is the measure of our temporal separation from the source and our beginning of our natural life, namely, conception and birth.  Since time cannot go backwards, we can only grow older.  Spiritual age, on the other hand, is the measure of our separation from the source of our spiritual life, namely, God.  Prior to beginning our spiritual life we are separated from God, but in God’s plan of salvation we are offered spiritual birth and throughout our lives given the opportunity to choose to grow closer to God.  The closer we are to God, the younger we are spiritually.  In perfect union with God we can be forever spiritually young.

The human family had its origin from the unity of one couple, Adam and Eve.  But because of sin, the multitude of individuals that came forth from this couple inherited disunity and enmity towards God and towards one another, beginning with the discord between Cain and Abel.  There was no peace in the world.

Then in the fullness of time the Eternal Word, the only begotten Son of God, became the New Adam by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the New Eve.  Thus began the new creation.  Note that in the old creation Eve was formed from the body of Old Adam.  Now in the new creation the New Adam comes forth from the body of the New Eve.

The mission of the New Adam and the New Eve is to gather all the errant children of the Old Adam and unite them in love into one Mystical Body, the Church, of which the New Adam is the Head and the Holy Spirit is the soul.  The New Eve, by analogy, is said to be the neck of the Mystical Body through whom all the graces from the Sacred Head are distributed to the members of the Body.  Therefore, she is Mediatrix of all graces.

In order to enliven and nourish the members of his Mystical Body, the New Adam gave his Body seven fountains of Life.  These fountains are the seven Sacraments.  If we faithfully avail ourselves of these fountains of Life, we will live forever eternally young.  We will be the recipients of the triumph that the New Adam won over sin and death.

Read More from Deacon Antonio here.

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May 14, 2013 / Maria News

May 2nd Message from Medjugorje

MedjugorjeToday.tv - ”Dear children! Anew, I am calling you to love and not to judge. My Son, according to the will of the Heavenly Father, was among you to show you the way of salvation, to save you and not to judge you. If you desire to follow my Son, you will not judge but love like your Heavenly Father loves you. And when it is the most difficult for you, when you are falling under the weight of the cross do not despair, do not judge, instead remember that you are loved and praise the Heavenly Father because of His love. My children, do not deviate from the way on which I am leading you. Do not recklessly walk into perdition. May prayer and fasting strengthen you so that you can live as the Heavenly Father would desire; that you may be my apostles of faith and love; that your life may bless those whom you meet; that you may be one with the Heavenly Father and my Son. My children, that is the only truth, the truth that leads to your conversion, and then to the conversion of all those whom you meet – those who have not come to know my Son – all those who do not know what it means to love. My children, my Son gave you a gift of the shepherds. Take good care of them. Pray for them. Thank you.”

Related: Are you ready for The Triumph?

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May 14, 2013 / Maria News

Solar cataclysm! Sun threatens Earth with possible geomagnetic storm

By Catholic Online

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Between Sunday and Monday, and within a 24 hour period, the sun has let lose three major flares, all in the X range. Solar flares are rated on a scale with X flares being among the largest possible. The latest flare erupted Monday night and registered as an X3.2, which is so far the most powerful solar flare of the year.

The flares are emanating from a dark region on the sun known popularly as a “sunspot.” This sunspot region has been dubbed AR1748. Sunspots are dark because they are cooler than the surrounding region, however they remain amazingly hot. They are formed when magnetic field lines get twisted together. When those magnetic lines twist too much, they break, and often result in a solar flare.

Of the past three major flares, two have produced coronal mass ejections, which means some of the sun’s material was flung far out into space, away from the sun at millions of miles per hour.

So far, these supercharged streams of solar material have missed the Earth because the active region on the sun (AR1748) isn’t pointing in our direction. This will change within the next few days as the sun rotates.

By the end of this week, AR1748 will face Earth and any coronal mass ejections will probably impact the planet. Such impacts cause geomagnetic storms, which are responsible for displays of the northern and southern lights, also known as auroras.

While auroras are beautiful to watch, the solar events that cause them can be dangerous both in space and on Earth. Spacecraft and high-flying airliners can be exposed to increased radiation. Satellites and power grids on Earth are also susceptible to damage as electrical charges build up upon them. Satellites can be lost and power can be knocked out on Earth.

All this can be fixed however, and the only humans that are in real danger are those in orbit. Those flying are exposed to little more radiation than they receive during x-ray exams. Fortunately, the impact of a coronal mass ejection can be predicted and astronauts can take precautions while the rest of us on Earth are protected by the planet’s magnetic field.

For most people, a geomagnetic storm simply means the rare treat of the northern or southern lights at middle latitudes.

The current spate of activity is normal for the sun as it reaches the climax of its 11-year cycle of activity. Every 11 years, the sun experiences increased activity as its magnetic field reverses. Then, the activity subsides and the sun remains quiet for the better part of the next decade.

What is most unusual about the current uptick in activity is that the sun has been abnormally quiet for the past two years, well at the lower range of average activity.

Scientists cannot predict if the sun will send a coronal mass ejection towards Earth within the next several days, but they do believe there will be more activity from the AR1748. If a major geomagnetic storm appears likely, we will provide additional coverage.

© 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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May 13, 2013 / Maria News

Gosnell Convicted of Murder on Fatima Day! Coincidence?

Maria News- Each year on May 13, Catholics from around the world venerate Our Lady of Fatima.  On May 13, 1917 three children – Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco began witnessing apparitions of the Virgin Mary.  The apparitions took place on the thirteenth day for 6 consecutive months, followed by numerous documented miracles.

On Sunday, May 13, 1917, towards noon, a flash of lightning drew the attention of the children, and they saw a brilliant figure appearing over the trees of the Cova da Iria. The “Lady” asked them to pray for the conversion of sinners and an end to World War One, and to come back every month, on the 13th.

On July 13, Mary promised that “in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

The triumph of Mary will come when evil is destroyed forever. When this happens Christ will have judged the living and dead.

Those who have special devotions to Our Lady believe that she has been given a special grace from God to appear on earth in order to bring souls into closer union with her son, Jesus Christ.  She comes for the conversion of sinners. Because of Mary many will find (or have already found) Christ.

The world is clearly upside down. Vice is praised as virtue. Authentic virtue is discarded as being politically incorrect or worse – radical. We destroy in the womb the least among us. Our culture assaults the family, motherhood, fatherhood, brotherhood and sisterhood. Our culture is attempting to re-define the meaning of manhood and womanhood. Our world values the material with very little public acknowledgment of eternity.

Before God’s Kingdom comes there will be a battle for souls, but good will ultimetly prevail over evil. Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart will triumph. Christ will come to judge the living and the dead and the Kingdom of God will reign forever.

This brings us to Kermit Gosnell. The abortionist who delivered babies only to cut their spinal cords with scissors. Today, on May 13 a Jury in Pennsylvania has convicted Gosnell of murdering three of four babies in his capital murder trial. He is also guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 abortion death of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41 year-old who died when Gosnell’s untrained staff administered an overdose of sedatives.(1)

The connection?

The mainstream media in the US has largely ignored the Gosnell trial.  Rows of seats in the courtroom reserved for the press were empty until the day that the Defense for Gosnell gave its testimony.

Likewise, we have a sitting President in the US that supports the very same practices that Gosnell provided (i.e. partial birth and late term abortion).  Obama has never mentioned the deaths of the babies killed by Gosnell, but he did attend the annual Planned Parenthood Gala and gave them praise for their work. “You’ve … got a president who is going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way,” the president told some 1,000 attendees at a meeting of the Planned Parenthood Federation in Washington.”

Today however the pro-life movement and all those who value the sanctity of human life can breath a little easier. Gosnell has been convicted of murder. In my opinion this is a small taste of the triumph of good over evil.  No doubt Gosnells defense lawyer will appeal the verdict. But for now the media and pro-abortion politicians alike should take note that life matters. For us Catholics with Marian devotions, we believe that the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady will triumph over evil. Today is a taste of that Triumph. Perhaps a sign to all of us that justice will prevail.

Let us all pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima for the conversion of sinners. Let us pray for the conversion of hearts for all those who support abortion, who administer abortion and who have been harmed by abortion. Finally we pray for the peace of those innocent babies who have died from abortion. In Christ’s name we pray.

“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for the least of your brothers, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

Related: The Triumph Film

(1) http://www.lifesitenews.com/breaking-kermit-gosnell-convicted-on-3-of-4-counts-of-murdering-babies.html

*Featured Image from: http://www.discerninghearts.com/?page_id=4653
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May 13, 2013 / Maria News

BREAKING: Abortionist Gosnell Convicted of Murder

LifeSiteNews.com – A Philadelphia jury has found late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell guilty of murdering three of four babies in his capital murder trial.

He is also guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 abortion death of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old legal immigrant who died when his untrained staff administered an overdose of sedatives.

The jury found Gosnell guilty of murdering Babies A, C, and D. Gosnell quipped Baby A, who was photographed by one of his employees, Andrienne Moton, was big enough to “walk me to the bus stop.”

Jurors found Gosnell had committed first-degree murder when he allowed the babies to be born alive, then “snipped” their spinal cords with scissors — a practice his employees said they saw him perform hundreds of times.

The verdict, which was announced this afternoon in the courtroom of Judge Jeffrey Minehart, means Gosnell will face the death penalty at sentencing.

The “not guilty” count related to Baby E, who uttered a noise before being killed. Jurors could not determine conclusively that such a sound represented a sign of life.

“Even if not on every count, I am thrilled today by the guilty verdict in the Gosnell murder trial,” said Bryan Kemper of Stand True Ministries. “I have waited many years for justice to be served on behalf of babies being killed by abortionists.”


The 72-year-old abortionist faced hundreds of charges, ranging from first-degree murder to racketeering to tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors Ed Cameron and Joanne Pescatore appeared relaxed before the verdict came in, according to reporter J.D. Mullane of the Buck County (PA) Courier Times, while Gosnell defense attorney Jack McMahon looked nervous.

Read More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/breaking-kermit-gosnell-convicted-on-3-of-4-counts-of-murdering-babies.html

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May 13, 2013 / Maria News

Pope receives Colombian President

news.va – This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father received in audience His excellency Mr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, president of the Republic of Colombia. President Santos then met with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

May 13, 2013 / Maria News

BANNED: How to make a plastic gun using a 3-D printer

By Catholic Online

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Defense Distributed, the company that made the prototype, stated on Twitter that its project had “gone dark” at the instigation of the government.

The company’s head, 25-year-old Cody Wilson is a University of Texas law student. Wilson is adamant that everyone should have access to guns.

“Although we do not comment on whether we have individual ongoing compliance matters, we can confirm that the department has been in communication with the company,” a State Department spokesman said.

For some, though, the action has come too little and too late. Defense Distributed told Forbes that the files have already been downloaded more than 100,000 times in the two days since they were uploaded.

The largest number of downloads initially were to addresses in Spain, followed by the U.S., Brazil, Germany and the U.K.

Fifteen of the gun’s 16 pieces are constructed on the $8,000 Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, Forbes said. The final piece is a common nail, used as a firing pin, found in any dry goods store.

“I immediately complied and I’ve taken down the files,” Wilson told the Web site Betabeat. “But this is a much bigger deal than guns. It has implications for the freedom of the web.” Betabeat posted the letter requesting that the plans be taken offline as they may contain data regulated by the State Department. The department said it would review the files.

A famous Internet foe – long a thorn in the side for governments across the world, is behind this latest scrape. Defense Distributed does not host the files in the US; instead it has uploaded them to the Mega website run by the internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, based in New Zealand, and where user information – including who has logged into the site and downloaded files – is encrypted.

The files have also been uploaded to the Pirate Bay file-sharing site, where they have proved a popular download.

A British expert in 3-D printing and a ballistics expert separately warned that building a gun from the parts could be lethal to the user, because the physics involved in firing a bullet could put catastrophic stresses on the plastics used it its construction.

In the United Kingdom, where private gun ownership is strictly forbidden and patrolled — two British newspapers are understood to have asked 3D printing companies to try to build the gun for them.

A journalist in the U.S. who downloaded the file found that companies with sufficient 3D printing capability refused to produce the device, citing laws against the production of such weapons.

© 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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May 12, 2013 / Maria News

The Virtues of Mary
By Deacon Antonio Sandoval

A virtue is a permanent predisposition of our will towards good. Virtues can be infused by God, or they can be acquired by habitual acts proper to each virtue. However, even the infused virtues require acts proper to that virtue on the part of the recipient in order to remain a permanent disposition. That is why it says in James 2: 26, that faith, (an infused virtue), without works is dead.

Several authors have compiled lists of the most important virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Compiling such lists is a matter of judgment, since everything in the Blessed Virgin Mary, whether in thought, word, or deed was a predisposition towards the highest good, namely, God.

The permanent disposition of Mary towards God was a consequence of her fullness of grace and her divine purity. This insured that every movement emanating from her soul began from the inviolate purity of her relationship with God and returned to that same center.

The Venerable Mary of Agreda, in her monumental work consisting of private revelations given to her by the Blessed Virgin Mary entitled, The City of God, lists the theological virtues and the infused cardinal virtues supplemented by the gifts and of the Spirit as the most important virtues of Mary.

The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity cannot be acquired by human effort. They are infused gifts of God. However, we can prayerfully request these gifts from God and practice them when we receive them. Faith is the virtue that allows us to ascent to divine truths that cannot be acquired by reason alone. The virtue of hope directs our desires towards things of heaven and gives us the certitude that what God promises will be fulfilled. Charity gives us the ability to love God in the way that God desires to be loved and to love our neighbor as Christ has loved us.

The cardinal virtues, sometimes also called the moral virtues, are justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance. Justice directs us to give to God what is due to God and to give to our neighbor what is due to our neighbor. Prudence is the virtue that enables us to judge correctly the attitude that we must have and the action that we must follow in any given situation. Fortitude is the virtue that gives us the strength to act in accordance with a well formed conscience, no matter how difficult the required action may be. Temperance is the virtue that directs us to the proper and moderate use of temporal goods.

Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in his book, The Mother of the Savior and our Interior Life, lists the principal virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the theological virtues, the cardinal virtues, as well as humility and meekness. He says that her virtues were aided by all the gifts of the Holy Ghost. He also says that the cardinal virtues are infused and are present in any soul in the state of grace. But he mentions that there are acquired moral virtues with same name, (justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance) which facilitate the exercise of the corresponding infused virtues.

St. Alphonsus Liguori in his book The Glories of Mary gives the following as the ten most important virtues of Mary: humility, love of God, love of neighbor, Faith, Hope, chastity, poverty, obedience, patience, and the spirit of prayer.

St. Louis De Montfort’s list of the ten most important virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary includes: profound humility, continual prayer, prompt obedience, lively faith, ardent charity, heroic patience, universal mortification, divine purity, angelic sweetness, and divine wisdom.

The list of important Marian virtues given by Venerable Mary of Agreda and that given by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange are very similar. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange includes meekness which could be another name for the virtue that St. Louis de Montfort calls angelic sweetness.

St. Alphonsus Liguori divides Charity into the love of God and the love of neighbor and includes the virtues of chastity and poverty which the other authors do not mention. Chastity may the virtue that St. Louis de Montfort calls divine purity. Although Mary of Agreda does not mention poverty as an important virtue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her writings she describes Jesus, Mary, and Joseph living a life of poverty.

In our devotion to Mary we must pray that our own lives be rooted in the virtues of the Mother of our Lord.

Read More from Deacon Antonio here

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