23rd 
St. Clement I of Rome (92-101) was one of the first popes; according to St. Ireneus, he was the third after Peter. Clement most probably died as a martyr. Otherwise little is known of his life. It is not certain whether he is the one Paul mentions as his companion in Phil. 4:3. St. Clement's letter to the Corinthians is authentic; in it he authoritatively intervenes in that strife-torn community, a memorable act in the early history of the papacy. 
St. Columban was born in West Leinster, Ireland, sometime between 540 and 550, and decided when he was a youth, to dedicate himself to God despite his mother's opposition. He lived for a time on Cluain Iris, an island in Lough Erne, with a monk named Sinell, and then became a monk at Bangor. With twelve other monks he was sent as a missionary to Gaul about 585. He built his first monastery at Annegray about 590, and it was so successful that he followed with two more, at Luxeuil and Fontes (Fontaines). Soon his followers spread all over Europe, building monasteries in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. He aroused much opposition, especially from the Frankish bishops, by the Celtic usages he installed in his monasteries and for refusing to acknowledge bishops' jurisdiction over them. He defended his practices in letters to the Holy See and refused to attend a Gallican synod at Chalons in 603 when summoned to explain his Celtic usages. In 610 King Theodoric II of Burgundy, angered by Columban's denunciation of his refusal to marriage and his practice of keeping concubines, ordered all Irish monks banished from his realm. Columban was shipwrecked on the way to Ireland but was offered refuge by King Theodebert II of Neustria at Metz and began to evangelize the Alemanni in the area around Bregenz on Lake Constance. Though successful, he was again banished in 612, when Burgundy warred against and conquered Neustria; Theodoric now ruled over the area in which Columban was working. Columban decided to flee his old adversary and crossed the Alps to Italy, where he was welcomed to Milan by Arian King Agilulf of the Lombards. Columban founded a monastery at Bobbio, between Milan and Genoa, which became one of the great monasteries of its time—a center of culture, learning, and spirituality. He died there on November 23. Columban wrote his Monastic Rule, sermons, poetry, and treatises against Arianism. 
Miguel Pro was born January 13, 1891, at Guadalupe Zacatecas, Mexico. From his childhood, high spirits and happiness were the most outstanding characteristics of his personality. The loving and devoted son of a mining engineer and a pious and charitable mother, Miguel had a special affinity for the working classes which he retained all his life. 
On July 10 we had the feast of the Seven Martyred Brothers; today their saintly mother receives special honor. Her body, together with that of her youngest son Silvanus, rests in the cemetery of Maximus; later her remains were transferred to the church of St. Susanna, where they still are honored. She was beheaded in 165 A.D. 
There are some things in every one of our lives that seem absolutely permanent and entirely indestructible. For most children, their parents have that feeling and, for many, so does their home, their school, and their church. For most of us adults, there’s a similar sense of timelessness and permanence to edifices like the Washington Monument and the US capitol, even when we’re angry with Congress.
That same feeling of permanence was even more true of the thoughts and emotions that faithful Jews experienced when they visited the great Temple in Jerusalem. If anything would last, the Temple would, they thought. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus told them otherwise. It would all disappear, and sooner than they might think. And indeed it did.
There’s a tendency in us all to put our faith in things we can see and touch, and that’s a great mistake, as Jesus reminds us. Eventually, everything that we can see and touch, including our very bodies, will pass away. And what will we be left with then? Nothing but the hearts that we have formed and shaped in a lifetime of thinking, choosing and acting — for good or ill. Nothing but our hearts and the good Lord who has been waiting to greet us face to face.
When that great moment comes, there will be only one question that counts: Have we grown into God’s likeness and have we learned to see as He sees, to think as He thinks, and to love as He loves? If we have, we’ll have a thrilling eternity ahead of us in the bosom of God and of God’s big family. If we have not, our destiny is to live alone forever within sight of the wonderful family that can never be ours.
Whichever it’s going to be, you’re making part of your choice this very day.