http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/12Jun/3pentsun.htm#haydock

    Redemption

    Comprehensive Catholic Commentary
    by
    Fr. George Leo Haydock
    provided by
    John Gregory

            Today for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, we encounter one of the most oft quoted passages of Sacred Scripture, the eighth verse of chapter five of the first epistle of St. Peter whereby Christ's chosen first Pope employs the imagery of the devil being like a roaring lion always on the prowl to devour souls. That is why it ties in so well with today's Gospel of the rejoicing of one sinner returning to the fold. With satan roaming it truly is a victory worth celebrating when a soul is saved from this savage unearthly beast.

    Epistle: 1 St. Peter 5: 6-11

    6 Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation:

    7 Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of you.

    8 Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.

    9 Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world.

    10 But the God of all grace, Who hath called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you.

    11 To Him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.


    Gospel: St. Luke 15: 1-10

    1 Now the publicans and sinners drew near unto Him to hear Him.

    2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

    3 And He spoke to them this parable, saying:

    4 What man of you that hath an hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost, until he find it?

        Commentary on Verse 4 What man, & c. Christ left the ninety-nine in the desert, when He descended from the angelic choirs, in order to seek last man on the earth, that He might fill up the number of the sheepfold of Heaven, from which His sins had excluded Him. St. Ambrose. Neither did His affection for the last sheep make Him behave cruelly to the rest; for He left them in safety, under the protection of His omnipotent hand. St. Cyril ex D. Thomas Aquinas. 5 And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing:

    6 And coming home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.

    7 I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in Heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.
        Commentary on Verse 7Joy in Heaven, & c. What incitement ought it not to be to us to practice virtue, when we reflect that our conversion causes joy to the troops of blessed spirits, whose protection we should always seek, and whose presence we should always revere. St. Ambrose. There is greater joy for the conversion of a sinner, than for the perseverance of the just; but it frequently happens, that these being free from the chain of sin, remain indeed in the path of justice, but press not on eagerly to their heavenly country; whilst such as have been sinners, are stung with grief at the remembrance of their former transgressions, and calling to mind how they have forsaken their God, endeavour by present fervour to compensate for their past misconduct. But it must be remembered that there are many just, whose lives cause such joy to the heavenly court, that all the penitential exercises of sinners cannot be preferred before them.? St. Gregory, hom. xxxiv. 8 Or what woman having ten groats; if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?

    9 And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost.

    10 So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.
        Commentary on Verse 10Before the angels. By this it is plain that the spirits in Heaven have a concern for us below, and a joy at our repentance, and consequently a knowledge of it. C.

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1115.htm#article4

Article 4. Whether the heavenly bodies are the cause of human actions?

Objection 1. It would seem that the heavenly bodies are the cause of human actions. For since the heavenly bodies are moved by spiritual substances, as stated above (Question 110, Article 3), they act by virtue thereof as their instruments. But those spiritual substances are superior to our souls. Therefore it seems that they can cause impressions on our souls, and thereby cause human actions.

Objection 2. Further, every multiform is reducible to a uniform principle. But human actions are various and multiform. Therefore it seems that they are reducible to the uniform movements of heavenly bodies, as to their principles.

Objection 3. Further, astrologers often foretell the truth concerning the outcome of wars, and other human actions, of which the intellect and will are the principles. But they could not do this by means of the heavenly bodies, unless these were the cause of human actions. Therefore the heavenly bodies are the cause of human actions.

On the contrary, Damascene says (De Fide Orth. ii, 7) that "the heavenly bodies are by no means the cause of human actions."

I answer that, The heavenly bodies can directly and of themselves act on bodies, as stated above (Article 3). They can act directly indeed on those powers of the soul which are the acts of corporeal organs, but accidentally: because the acts of such powers must needs be hindered by obstacles in the organs; thus an eye when disturbed cannot see well. Wherefore if the intellect and will were powers affixed to corporeal organs, as some maintained, holding that intellect does not differ from sense; it would follow of necessity that the heavenly bodies are the cause of human choice and action. It would also follow that man is led by natural instinct to his actions, just as other animals, in which there are powers other than those which are affixed to corporeal organs: for whatever is done here below in virtue of the action of heavenly bodies, is done naturally. It would therefore follow that man has no free-will, and that he would have determinate actions, like other natural things. All of which is manifestly false, and contrary to human habit. It must be observed, however, that indirectly and accidentally, the impressions of heavenly bodies can reach the intellect and will, forasmuch, namely, as both intellect and will receive something from the inferior powers which are affixed to corporeal organs. But in this the intellect and will are differently situated. For the intellect, of necessity, receives from the inferior apprehensive powers: wherefore if the imaginative, cogitative, or memorative powers be disturbed, the action of the intellect is, of necessity, disturbed also. The will, on the contrary, does not, of necessity, follow the inclination of the inferior appetite; for although the passions in the irascible and concupiscible have a certain force in inclining the will; nevertheless the will retains the power of following the passions or repressing them. Therefore the impressions of the heavenly bodies, by virtue of which the inferior powers can be changed, has less influence on the will, which is the proximate cause of human actions, than on the intellect.

To maintain therefore that heavenly bodies are the cause of human actions is proper to those who hold that intellect does not differ from sense. Wherefore some of these said that "such is the will of men, as is the day which the father of men and of gods brings on" (Odyssey xviii 135). Since, therefore, it is manifest that intellect and will are not acts of corporeal organs, it is impossible that heavenly bodies be the cause of human actions.

Reply to Objection 1. The spiritual substances, that move the heavenly bodies, do indeed act on corporeal things by means of the heavenly bodies; but they act immediately on the human intellect by enlightening it. On the other hand, they cannot compel the will, as stated above (Question 111, Article 2).

Reply to Objection 2. Just as the multiformity of corporeal movements is reducible to the uniformity of the heavenly movement as to its cause: so the multiformity of actions proceeding from the intellect and the will is reduced to a uniform principle which is the Divine intellect and will.

Reply to Objection 3. The majority of men follow their passions, which are movements of the sensitive appetite, in which movements of the heavenly bodies can cooperate: but few are wise enough to resist these passions. Consequently astrologers are able to foretell the truth in the majority of cases, especially in a general way. But not in particular cases; for nothing prevents man resisting his passions by his free-will. Wherefore the astrologers themselves are wont to say that "the wise man is stronger than the stars" [Ptolemy, Centiloquium, prop. 5], forasmuch as, to wit, he conquers his passions.