🏅 Saint of the Day — 16 June Saint John Francis Regis The Priest Who Went Where No One Else Would Go He did not wait for the poor to come to him. He went to them. Saint John Francis Regis was a Jesuit priest born in France in 1597 — a man of learning who chose to spend his life among the forgotten. He walked to the most remote mountain villages in France, often in brutal winter conditions, to bring the Gospel to people who had not seen a priest in years. Sometimes decades. He travelled on foot through snow and ice in the French Alps — arriving in isolated villages where faith had grown cold and communities had collapsed from poverty and neglect. He did not arrive with grand theological lectures. He arrived with food for the hungry. Firewood for the freezing. Legal help for those imprisoned unjustly. A path out of prostitution for women who had no other choice. He reconciled families. He established schools. He set up centres to help women rebuild their lives with dignity. He preached with such warmth and conviction that hardened hearts opened. Communities that had forgotten God remembered Him. And here is the part that stays with me: Regis did not do any of this from a position of comfort. He slept in barns. He walked through blizzards. He was refused entry by parishes who thought he was too disruptive. He died in 1640 at just forty-three years old — worn out from a life poured out completely for others. When he died, crowds came from the mountains to mourn him. The people he had served — the forgotten ones — they remembered. He was canonised in 1737. And today's Gospel fits him perfectly: Jesus says to love your enemies — to go to the difficult people, the difficult places, the difficult conversations. Regis did not love only those who made it easy. He loved most where it cost most. 📖 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor." — Luke 4:18 📖 "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." — Matthew 25:40 🙏 Prayer Saint John Francis Regis, you went where others refused to go and loved those others refused to love. Pray for us — that we may have the same reckless generosity. That we may stop waiting for those in need to come to us, and begin instead to go to them. Amen. 💭 Truth for Today The Gospel is not comfortable. And neither was the life of the one who gave it to us. ❓ Reflection Is there someone difficult in your life — someone you have been avoiding — that God might be calling you to reach out to? ❤️ Comment "St. John Francis, pray for us" or "Amen" 🙏 #SaintOfTheDay #SaintJohnFrancisRegis #June16 #RiseWithTheWord