"In five hours I will see Jesus! May the will of God be done in all things! I have confidence in the love of Jesus. I know that He will order his angels to bear me in their hands."

These are the amazing words JACQUES FESCH wrote five hours before his death. Unlike all of us, Jacques knew the specific hour and day of his death. His lawyer had told him that his public execution (beheading by the guillotine) would take place at 4 am the next day.

Jacques had total TRUST in the MERCY OF GOD. Although Jacques had been found guilty of robbery and murder, he had repented and reconciled with God while in jail. He knew in his heart that he would enter into Heaven. "IN FIVE HOURS I WILL SEE JESUS" is the title of a book containing many of the letters Jacques wrote while he was in solitary confinement in jail.

In connection with the PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON, I spoke briefly about Jacques Fesch in one of my homilies last Sunday. His life is a great example of God’s Love and Mercy. I am pretty sure that you have never heard before the name of Jacques Fesch . The Church has now recognized him as a "SERVANT OF GOD", the first step in the canonization process. Maybe one day, if two miracles are attributed to him, we may pray through the intercession of Saint Jacques Fesch...

Jacques' conversion story shocked many people in France. He was a "playboy”, the son of a rich man in Paris (President of a bank). At the young age of 24, he killed a policeman following a botched robbery. HE NEEDED MONEY! He wanted to buy a boat so that he could go and live a new life by traveling toward faraway islands of the South Pacific. But his father (contrary to the father of the Prodigal Son) refused his request for money. Jacques was found guilty of murder and condemned to death. He was among the last people to be "guillotined" in France. It was October 1st, 1957, the Feast Day of St Therese of Lisieux, Little Flower!

One of my greatest joys as a priest has been to visit prisoners at the La Plata Jail. I have known prisoners to have major conversions, though not as dramatic as Jacques Fesch. Time in jail, including solitary confinement, can cause much despair. However, time in jail can also be used to seek God and turn to Him for change, for conversion!

We do not need to spend time in jail to convert and become saints. But we do need all of us to spend time in the confessional. We should recognize that we are all sinners. We believe that Jesus came on earth to save sinners. Jesus wants each of us to be saved. He pours upon each of us His grace, His mercy, and His love. We need to ask for His mercy. We need to open our hearts to His mercy and to His call for conversion. We need to believe in JESUS OUR SAVIOR. We also need to believe in the CHURCH AS SACRAMENT OF SALVATION. We need the Church Sacraments to be saved. We cannot be saved alone...We need to go to regular Confession. We need to keep Holy the Sabbath, the Day of the Lord (our Sunday) and go to Mass.

EUCHARISTIC RENEWAL BEGINS WITH RECONCILIATION WITH GOD. Yes, we should continue to emphasize the need for reverence when coming forward to receiving Jesus really present in the Eucharist. (bowing before receiving and making the sign of the Cross after receiving). Our reverence begins in our hearts. One of the gravest sins is to receive Jesus while in a state of major sin (including missing Mass on Sundays). WE NEED TO GO TO CONFESSION. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an encounter with Jesus, bringing many graces.

Jacques Fesch was blessed to have a good prison chaplain, a priest whom he initially rejected but to whom he eventually turned for the great sacrament of Reconciliation. All of us are prisoners, prisoners of our sins. We all need to turn to priests to seek God' s forgiveness and enter the confessionals with contrite and humble hearts. This is where we truly receive God's Mercy and keep converting, turning toward God.

May God keep blessing all of us in this " new", 42nd year of our parish!

May Our Patroness Saint, Mary Help of Christians keep guiding us to Reconciliation with her Son, Jesus!

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain