French Assassin Is Beatified

The story of the thief on the cross next to our Lord at the Crucifixion is a powerful lesson in God's "11th hour" redemption. Here's a modern day story of a young hell-bound man, Jacques Fesch, who had a dramatic conversion shortly before his execution.
     Though most of us have not lived the kind of life he did, we can experience the power of conversion as he did in our own lives. One of the things that I love so much about the Catholic faith is the constant offer of God's grace reaching out to us available through the sacrament of reconciliation. We all have the opportunity, even before we are on "death row," to experience his amazing grace, and when we are hanging on our final cross we can turn to the Lord , repent and be received into His kingdom.
    Conversion is not a one-time event but a continued series of conversions through our life. That gives me much hope that the person I am now, is not necessarily the person I will be in the future.

 "...a powerful wave of emotion swept over me, causing deep and brutal suffering. Within the space of a few hours, I came into possession of faith, with absolute certainty. I believed, and could no longer understand how I had ever not believed. Grace had come to me. A great joy flooded my soul and above all a deep peace. In a few instants everything had become clear. It was a very strong, sensible joy that I felt. I tend now to try, perhaps excessively, to recapture it; actually, the essential thing is not emotion, but faith. " Jacques Fesch 1957

 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
II Corinthians 3:18