As we begin our own Lenten journeys today, starting with receiving ashes on our foreheads at Mass, Catholic actor Mark Wahlberg shared why anyone who is seeking to get right with God this Lent should take the opportunity. 

“I feel like nobody is beyond redemption. God knows your heart and if you are sincere and want to make amends and change your life,” Wahlberg said during a Fox News interview this morning. “A lot of people say, ‘People don’t change ... .’ People are very capable of change. People are capable of greatness, but you have to show people and be an example.”

Talking with Benjamin Hall, the Fox News senior foreign correspondent who lost both of his legs while reporting in Ukraine, the actor spoke about his own life and losses and the suffering he has experienced — adding that there is only one remedy: 

“I had a very, very troubled childhood; until now, just you know, being impatient with people, being short with people, not being as understanding, as thoughtful: You get caught up in all these things every day in your life. There’s only one person who was perfect that walked this Earth, and that was Jesus. And everybody else should be a little more mindful.”

And, of course, tragedies do exist, but life looks a lot better when we can share the triumphs and tragedy with Christ, who shows us the way on the cross. 

“There will be suffering; there will be loss; there will be failure — and the only way to deal with those things and to still have gratitude and appreciation, because people always have it harder than you, is to have a relationship with God. And there is a purpose for every one of us,” Wahlberg reflected. 

The actor — who is now a partner and investor in the Hallow prayer app, is  outspoken about his Catholic faith, often posting pictures on social media heading into Mass — shared what he is offering up this Lent with a call to be better. 

“It’s a reminder that I need to do more, and I need to be better,” Wahlberg said, adding: “I think we all have things to repent for.”

“There [are] things that are in my life that are distracting and take me away from my focus on building my relationship and getting closer to God; of course, living that purpose-filled life that he chose for me.”

“I would say that I’m nothing other than a humble servant to God,” Wahlberg said to Hall. “I was put in this position for a specific reason.”

Wahlberg is one of the first Catholic actors to take part in the Hallow prayer app, alongside Jonathan Roumie. Other celebrites include Gwen Stefani. And, this year, actor Chris Pratt is now part of the Lent “Pray40 Challenge.” In a new ad for the app launched today, actors are called by Wahlberg to take part in the challenge again this year. Father Mike Schmitz, host of the popular The Bible in a Year podcast, also is featured on the app. 

Wahlberg also spoke of the importance of reaching young adults and teens via evangelization. 

“Encouraging young people, to help them avoid making the same mistakes that I made and that other people make … with God in your life every day, it allows you to be in the position where you can make the right choices,” Wahlberg stated. 

The Catholic actor, who now lives in Las Vegas with his wife and four children, says many people he encounters mention the prayer app over his movies.

“I’ve made, I don’t know, 50, 60 movies. People always come up to me and say something. But most of the time now … people usually talk about Hallow and how much it’s changed their lives: either reconnecting them after them being lapsed or, you know, finding a path to meeting and being introduced to God and faith for the first time in their lives.”

As Wahlberg so often says, “Stay prayed up!”