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The 15-year-old boy threw rocks and racial epithets<\/a> at a group of black children. \u201cKill the n*****s!\u201d he screamed as he terrorized them.<\/p>\n The resulting civil rights injunction for the hate crime appeared to be no deterrent as the youth, two years later, attacked two Vietnamese men during an attempted robbery. He bashed the one over the head with a long wooden stick while shouting, \u201cVietnam f***ing s***,\u201d and punched the other in the face while mocking his \u201cslant-eyed looks.\u201d<\/p>\n This time the young man, Mark Wahlberg, was charged with attempted murder\u2014a charge that was reduced to criminal contempt. Led away in shackles to Boston\u2019s Deer Island House of Correction, as he later described it, apologized, \u201cmaking sure I paid my debt to society and continue to try and do things that make up for the mistakes that I\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n Wahlberg\u2019s turn-around began with Father Flavin, a parish priest who pushed him to make drastic changes in his life. Flavin has remained a key part of the actor\u2019s life. \u201cHe married me and my wife and baptized all my children,\u201d Wahlberg says<\/a>. It\u2019s also believed that he helps Wahlberg choose movie roles that \u201chonor his religious roots.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Wahlberg acknowledges the role that faith had in turning his life around and has no qualms about saying so, nor about practicing his faith in public. This past Ash Wednesday the actor wore an ash cross on his forehead while sitting for an interview on national television.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to jam it down anybody\u2019s throat, but I do not deny my faith. That\u2019s an even bigger sin. You know, it\u2019s not popular in my industry, but I cannot deny my faith. It\u2019s important for me to share that with people. But, I have friends from all walks of life and all different types of faiths and religions, so it\u2019s important to respect and honor them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n A typical day in the actor\u2019s life begins with prayer at a local Catholic Church, wherever he is. Even when scheduling constraints prevent him from making it to daily Mass, he\u2019ll at least spend a few minutes in church.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I do when I start my day is, I get down on my hands and knees and give thanks to God,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I can start my day out by saying my prayers and getting myself focused, then I know I\u2019m doing the right thing. That 10 minutes helps me in every way throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a Catholic,\u201d Wahlberg says, \u201cis the most important aspect of my life. Being a good actor or a good producer: that\u2019s not going to help me sleep at night or get me into heaven. The most important thing from where I sit is to be a good father, a good husband, and a good human being \u2013 a man who helps his fellow man and raises his kids to be good human beings too. Every single aspect of my family life is joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Quite likely there are others in Mark Wahlberg\u2019s profession who center their lives around their faith rather than the other way around. Quite likely there are those in the entertainment industry who are happy and fulfilled professionally, personally and spiritually concerning this world and the next. But it is doubtful that many have traveled as much road. As Wahlberg says<\/a>, \u201cIf it all ended today, I\u2019d be happy. I\u2019ve had such an amazing journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n