Christian filmmaker Jim Wahlberg was a street hacker in Boston, an alcoholic and struggling when Christ came into his life.
His Savior appeared in the form of Mother Teresa herself.
He said the future St. Teresa of Calcutta attended Mass at a prison in Massachusetts one day during a tour of the United States in 1988.
California family pours faith, love into new venture, grieves loss: ‘It’s Dad and God is with us’
“I thought I saw God at one point in that Mass,” Wahlberg said in an interview with Fox News Digital this week about his path to Jesus Christ and his journey to sobriety.
“I thought she was God. That’s my understanding of who she was at that moment. Having this experience leaves me wanting to try to live a different life.” Once I experienced that the element was a relationship with Christ, other things made sense to me.”
Jim Wahlberg attends the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Celebrity Invitational Gala held at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on December 2, 2023. (Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
Among other things, “it made sense to me that once I got out of prison, I could get sober and live a different life.”
On that day, June 3, 1988, Mother Teresa arrived in Boston and said, “People are hungry for love more than they are hungry for bread.”
She was scheduled to visit three Bay State Prisons the next day, according to media reports at the time.
Introducing King of Alberta, an American who gave birth to the civil rights movement, “I gave everything for Christ”
“I think you and I have to go out of our way to be a sign of compassion and a presence of Christ to them,” she said again.
Wahlberg, who now lives in Florida and runs Wall St. Productions, told his story in his 2020 book, The Big Hustle: A Boston Street Kid’s Story of Addiction and Redemption.
He shared details of his journey in a personal “Surrender Story” on the Hallow app in February.
Trapped while the brothers soared
Wahlberg’s younger brother, Donnie, rose to stardom in the late 1980s as a member of the global music sensation New Kids on the Block.
Christian prayer app HALLOW reaches thousands of prisoners through new partnership: ‘We need to hear God’s word’
Another brother, Mark, became a solo rap star a few years later as Marky Mark and is one of the biggest celebrities in entertainment today.
The star of the new Hollywood movie Arthur the King is also a partner and spokesperson for the Hallow app.
Mother Teresa is depicted with children during her mission in Calcutta, India. She was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. (Tim Graham/Getty Images)
While “Wahlberg” was trying to become one of the biggest names in show business, his older brother Jim was in prison.
But despite a life devoted to crime and not to Christ, salvation found him and loved him.
The pivotal moment came when a Boston street hacker was beaten to a pulp by a prison priest, Fr. James Freitas.
“I thought she was God. That was my understanding of who she was at that moment.” — Jim Wahlberg About Mother Teresa
“I asked him first and he said yes. I asked him to bring me a cassette tape of my brother, who is in the singing group New Kids on the Block. “I said,” Wahlberg said.
“They have the first cassette tape in the store, so I asked him to bring it over, and he did, and I was like, ‘Oh, what a great, generous man.’ I didn’t think so.” I thought, “What will I have to bring next?”
Jim Wahlberg said of his meeting with the prison priest, “I had no intention of going to the foot of the cross.” James Freitas, who set him on the path to Christ. (St. Petersburg)
“I wasn’t thinking about going to the foot of the cross. I wasn’t thinking about anything like that,” he told FOX News Digital.
“I was thinking about how I was going to manipulate the situation and how I was going to keep smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee and access his cell phone. And, you know, that was the plan.”
“I need to know more.”
When this happened to Fr., plans changed. Freitas invited Wahlberg to clean the prison chapel, effectively forcing him to attend mass.
Arrest warrant issued for Texas mother over library’s latest book “Just a Bonkura”
The prisoner agreed and hoped that his good behavior would result in early release from his nine-year sentence.
Mr. Wahlberg believes it was at one of these services that Jesus Christ appeared in his life in the person of Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa (1910-1997), November 1960 photo. The Albanian nun dedicated her life to the poor, destitute and sick of Calcutta, for which she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
“After this experience with Mother Teresa, I ran back to the priest and said, ‘I want to know more about Jesus that she’s talking about,'” Wahlberg said.
“‘That’s not the environment I grew up in. I want to know more about this Jesus who died for me and loved me even though I’ve done wrong.’ ” he said.
Click here to sign up for our lifestyle newsletter
Mr. Wahlberg has remained sober since leaving prison nearly 40 years ago.
His current film and production ventures are dedicated to propagating the message of Christ as delivered by St. Teresa of Calcutta.
As described on the film’s website, Mother Teresa: No Greater Love was a “soaring tribute to a spiritual icon” and one of the most successful documentaries of 2022. .
James Wahlberg said that Mother Teresa led him to Christ during a visit to the Massachusetts prison where she was imprisoned. (Tim Graham/Getty Images, Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
“Jesus Thirst: The Miracle of the Eucharist,” scheduled for release in June, “unravels the mysteries of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church and approaches the resurrection of the Eucharist,” Wahlberg said.
He also produced “Roadmap to Heaven”.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The film tells the story of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15 after recording many miracles.
Acutis was beatified in 2020.
For more lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle..
