Mark Wahlberg leaves church, reveals what he’s giving up for Lent

It’s become clear over the years that Mark Wahlberg is a man of faith.

Despite his fame and riches, despite the extraordinary career he’s created for himself, he cuts an inspirational figure off-camera. A family man at heart, he’s never been anything less than open about the importance of faith in his life.

Now, his life wasn’t always glitz and glamour. In fact, for a while he was headed down a dangerous path.

Growing up in Boston in the 70’s and 80’s, Wahlberg had a troubled youth and committed multiple racially-charged assaults.

At 16 years old he was convicted of assault and theft after a convenience store robbery.

While in jail, Mark decided to turn his attention to his faith to help get him through and guide him onto a better path.

“I had to make the choice personally, and then I had to focus on my faith,” he told People. 

“And my faith has really allowed me to overcome a lot of things. And hard work. You know, nothing comes easy especially when you’ve got your back against the wall and you’ve got a lot going against you. But I wanted to prove to people through my actions, and not my words, that I was going to change.”

And change he most certainly did.

Today, Wahlberg is married to a former Victoria Secret model and has four beautiful kids. Not only that, but the 51-year-old has a string of big movies to his name, including Ted, Planet of the Apes (2001), and Transformers.

He credits his belief in God for much of his success. Back in 2010, he told how he prays every day for the strength to be a good servant, parent, and spouse.

On Wednesday, the Boston-born actor could be seen leaving his local church, and took the time to deliver a profound message to his followers via his own Facebook page.

The video clip, later uploaded to social media, showed Wahlberg exiting the church on Ash Wednesday. The star revealed his plans regarding how he would be observing Lent – what he would be sacrificing – and he had an interesting answer indeed.

Wahlberg said that each year he’s asked what he’s going to be giving up to mark Lent. For 2023, though, he’s acknowledging the Christian tradition in a more unconventional way.

The Other Guys actor explained how this year his plan is to do more instead of less.

“More love, more peace, more acceptance, more caring, and more kindness,” Wahlberg said. “Have a beautiful Lent season. God bless you all.”

Watch the video below: