1 Maccabees 2:15-29 / Luke 19:41-44
The law of nature can be simply stated like this: if we go against the law of nature we are asking for trouble!
Natural laws describe how many parts of the natural world work. Whether we call it a law, or a rule or a process, we know we can't change it, much less go against it.
Besides natural laws, there are also God's laws that need to be followed with faith. Of course, natural laws and God's laws do not contradict each other; rather they complement each other.
In the 1st reading we heard about one law coming face to face with another law. There were the commissioners of king Antiochus who were enforcing the law of imperial worship and the law of God's covenant with His people.
The choice is one or the other. There can be no two-timing when these laws are concerned. Its also a question of temporary gains over eternal rewards.
But the fundamental question is which law respects freedom without imposing oppression, and which law is merely human and which is divine.
Mattathias and his family had to flee to the mountains in order to be faithful to God, but they are at peace.
On the contrary Jesus wept for Jerusalem because they rejected the message of peace.
Jesus still weeps for us when we don't follow God's law. But the fact is that when we go against our own nature, we will not be at peace.
If we don't want to be weeping forever in eternity, then let us make the choice for the law that will lead us to God.