Jacques Fesch was born on April 6, 1930. He was a school dropout, but his father, a wealthy banker, found him a good-paying job at the bank. Soon he got tired of his job and quit, and with his parents’ money he pursued a pleasure-seeking life. At 21, Jacques married a young woman named Pierette, whom he had gotten pregnant. Both of Jacques’ parents were strongly anti-Semitic and they were horrified that he had married Pierette whose father was Jewish. Jacques’ mother offered him a million francs if he would leave her. He took the money and ran.
Soon, Jacques spent the money and once again became bored and restless. He then conceived a grand plan: he would sail away to a new life in the South Pacific on the boat of his dreams costing over 2 million francs. His parents refused to give him the money, so he plotted to steal it. One evening, Jacques entered the office of a currency dealer and demanded the money. The dealer tried to reason with him, but Jacques hit him over the head with a gun and ran off with the money. The police chased him down, and as one policeman drew his revolver and commanded him to stop, Jacques took out his gun, shot and killed him.
He was imprisoned and sentenced to death. The chaplain attempted to visit him but Jacques wanted nothing to do with him. Even his lawyer, a man of deep faith, tried to lead him to God. The prayers and counsel eventually began to wear away at his hardness of heart. In fact, in a mystical way, Jacques soon found himself a firm believer in Jesus Christ. He wrote, “I was in bed, eyes open, really suffering for the first time in my life…. It was then that a cry burst from my breast, an appeal for help — ‘My God’ — and instantly, like a violent wind which passes over before anyone knows where it comes from, the Spirit of the Lord seized me ... I had an impression of infinite power and kindness and, from that moment onward, I believed with an unshakeable conviction that never left me.” In prison, Jacques Fesch turned from sinner to saint. He embarked upon a life of mystical prayer and penance. He was put to death, but he died in God’s grace.
How is this a resurrection story? Jacques Fesch was raised to new life in Christ. He went from a life of darkness to living in the light of Christ. Just as Christ brought new life to Jacques in prison, so too does he want each of us to live in the newness of life that he brings us in his Resurrection.
As the stone was rolled away from the tomb that Easter morning, Jesus has the power to take away sin and raise us to new life. He has the power to lift us out of darkness and fill us with divine light. This is what we celebrate in the Easter season. The story of Jacques Fesch, the truth of Easter, is that the power of Christ’s resurrection can change any person, even the most hardened sinner.
Father Najim is Spiritual Director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary, Providence, as well as Catholic Chaplain at LaSalle Academy.
