Mark Wahlberg, the 51-year-old actor, and producer, recently spoke about his faith during an appearance on the Today Show. The devout Catholic shared that his beliefs aren’t popular in Hollywood, but he’s unwilling to deny them.
Wahlberg was marking the beginning of Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday. He appeared on the show with a black cross on his forehead, a sign of repentance. The Catholic Church includes seven sacraments, and Confirmation is one of them. Wahlberg’s son, Michael, attended his Confirmation in July 2020.
The Ted actor discussed the importance of faith in his life and how it helps him to become a “better version of himself”. He talked about how he doesn’t want to force his faith on anyone, but he also doesn’t want to deny it.
“That’s an even bigger sin. You know, it’s not popular in my industry, but, you know, I cannot deny my faith. It’s important for me to share that with people,” he said.
“‘It’s everything, it’s afforded me so many things. God didn’t come to save the saints, he came to save the sinners. We’ve all had issues in our lives and we want to be better versions of ourselves, and through focusing on my faith, it’s allowed me to do that,” He continued.
Wahlberg has four children with Rhea Durham: Michael, Ella, Brendan, and Grace. Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day of praying and fasting. As a sign of repentance, devotees receive ash in the form of a cross on their foreheads. The phrase “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” is uttered by a priest while the ashes are applied.
The Boston native has had a successful career in the entertainment industry. However, his teenage years saw him serve 45 days in prison for felony assault for two racially charged attacks on Vietnamese men on the same day. Since then, Wahlberg has become a devoted Catholic, and he’s actively worked to improve his life.
As a Catholic, Wahlberg is expected to participate in acts of contrition. This was evident in his willingness to talk about his faith on the Today Show and his refusal to deny it, despite its lack of popularity in Hollywood.
