The Sparrows

Nonne duo passeres asse veneunt, et unus ex illis non cadit in terram sine voluntate Patris vestri. Non est, ut puto, criminis agere aucupium; neque venditio passerum habet culpam. Et quod ait, Unus ex illis non cadit super terra, sine voluntate Patris vestris, contra apostolicum dictum facere videtur quod ait: Non est pecudum Deo cura. Et auctoritati ejus multum derogabitur, si sensisse aliter, quam in evangeliis traditum est, repereietur. Nec enim apostolis multum dignitatis tribuitur, si passeribus ante stabunt. Locus hic ex sensu superiore proficiscitur. Iniquitates enim eorum exaggerantur, qui tradituri sunt, qui insectaturi, qui in fugam coacturi, quibus propter nomen Domini esse odio nos oportet, qui omne jus summ in solis corporibus exerceant, potatestem in animam non habentes Hi igitur passeres duos asse veneunt. Et quidem quae sub peccato vendita sunt, redemit ex lege Christus: ergo quod venditur, corpus atque anima est, et cui venditur, peccatum est: quia Christus et de peccato redemit, et animae ac corporis est redemptor. Qui igitur duos passeres asse veneunt se ipsos peccato minimo veneunt, natos ad volandum, et ad coelum pennis spiritalibus efferendos. Sed capti pretiis praesentium voluptatum, et ad luxum saeculi venales, totos se talibus actionibus nundinantur. Sed quaerendum est, quomodo unum ex illis est, quod sine voluntate Dei non cadet. Dei voluntas est, ut unum ex illis magis evolet, sed lex ex constitutione Dei profecta decernit unum ex eis potius decidere. Quemadmodum autem si evolarent, unum essent, id est, corpus in naturam animae transisset, et gravitas illa terrenae materiae in profectum et substantiam anime aboleretur, fieretque corpus potius spiritale: ita peccatorum pretio venditis, in naturam corporum animae subtilitas ingravescit, et terrenam contrahit ex vitiorum sorde materiem, fitque unum ex illis quod tradatur in terram. Plurimis autem eos ante stare passeribus cum dicit, ostendit multitudini infidelium electionem fidelium praeesse: quia his casus in terram, illis volatus in coelum. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap X Source: Migne PL 9.973a-974b

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin, and not one of them falls to the earth without the will of your Father? 1 It is not, I think, that bird hunting is a crime, nor selling sparrows worthy of reproof. And that He said: 'Not one of them falls to earth without the will of your Father,' seems to be set against the Apostolic speech which says: 'God has no care for oxen.' 2 His authority shall be much diminished if one finds in it a different meaning apart from that which is given by the Gospels. Nor is much dignity accorded to the Apostles if they are worth more than sparrows. 3 But the meaning of this passage comes from what has been said before. For their iniquities are heaped up who will hand over, who will persecute, who will drive into flight, for whom, on account of the name of the Lord, it is necessary they hate us, who exert themselves in their every law only in their bodies, having no strength of soul. These are the ones who sell two sparrows for a copper coin. And certainly that which has been sold beneath sin Christ redeems from the Law. Therefore what is sold is the body and the soul, and to sell to another is sin, because it is Christ who redeems from sin, He is the redeemer of the body and the soul. They, then, who sell two sparrows for a copper coin are those who sell themselves into sin for a meagre price, they who were born to fly and to be raised up to the heaven on spiritual wings. But snared by the reward of present pleasures, and purchaseable by the luxury of the world, with such deeds they sell themselves in the market. But it must be asked how it is that not one of them falls without the will of the God. The will of God is that by which one them may fly higher, but the law by God established judges which one of them falls. As if had they flown they would be one, that is with the body passing into the nature of the soul, and that heavy terestial matter disappearing into the substance of the soul with their ascent, the body becoming spiritual, so being sold for the price of sins, the delicate soul grows heavy in the nature of the body and by the filth of vices it packs together terrestial matter and is one of those given over to the earth. So when He says that they are worth much more than sparrows, He shows that the election of the faithful exceeds the multitude of the faithless, because for the latter is the fall to earth, for the former the flight to heaven. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 10 1 Mt 10.29 2 1 Cor 9.9 3 Mt 10.31