JIM WAHLBERG — noted author, producer and a Catholic activist — recently shared his life story with Holy Trinity parishioners. It’s a story of pain, addiction, faith and redemption that began far from the lights of Hollywood, in a rough neighborhood of Boston, where life was hard and lines were blurred.
Wahlberg, brother of famed actor Mark and boy bander Donnie, grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a place where everyone knew his name. More specifically, law enforcement, social services and the juvenile justice system were on a first name basis with the neighborhood bad boy who began drinking at age 8, robbing homes at 12, living on the streets and perfecting what he calls “The Big Hustle.”
FR. MICHAEL ST. PAUL BLESSES JIM WAHLBERG AHEAD OF HIS SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT AT HOLY TRINITY PARISH IN LADERA RANCH. PHOTO BY JEFF ANTENORE/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Born in the middle of a family of 9 children, he believed in nothing and valued nothing, especially himself. By age 17, Wahlberg began what would be 14 years in a maximum-security prison.
Despite the darkness, God had a plan that began with the prison chaplain, Fr. Jim Fratus. The priest invited Wahlberg to help him with the chapel and serving at Mass. “I’m looking at him, and the cigarette he was smoking, and I’m like thinking what can I get out of this situation? What I’m not thinking about is being brought to the foot of the cross, I’m not thinking about being introduced to Jesus, but I said OK,” said Wahlberg.
In June of 1988, Mother Teresa visited the prison. Fr. Fratus asked Wahlberg to be part of the procession along with the Boston archbishop and other dignitaries into the chapel to celebrate Mass with Mother Teresa.
The archbishop asked Mother Teresa to sit beside him on the altar, but she said “no, backs away from the altar and kneels down in the aisle,” recalled Wahlberg. “I’d never seen anything like it,” he continued, “wasn’t she the star of the show? She needs to be up there shining, right? But Mother put all the focus on Jesus, never herself. I just remember looking over at her and feeling like I was looking at the face of God.”
That was the beginning of a long journey that continues to unfold in Wahlberg’s story. It was tough, and it’s not over yet. The story is detailed in Wahlberg’s book “The Big Hustle.”
The presentation was part of Holy Trinity parish’s 20th jubilee speaker series. Wahlberg spoke to the power of redemption, hope and how God can work in even the most difficult cases.
“Although Dorchester in the 70s and 80s is a far cry from Ladera Ranch in the 2020s, I heard from many of the parents there that the presentation gave them hope for their loved ones who suffered from addiction, brushes with the law or had lost their faith,” said Holy Trinity’s pastor, Fr. Michael St. Paul. “We all pray for a conversion of one sort or another.”
To learn more about upcoming events at Holy Trinity parish, visit https://holytrinityladera.org/