Mark Wahlberg encourages prayer in Super Bowl 2024 commercial for Catholic app Hallow
Mark Wahlberg was on Hallow-ed ground Sunday night.
Wahlberg, 52, teamed with Jesus Christ — aka actor Jonathan Roumie from TBN’s “The Chosen” — to encourage prayer in a 30-second Super Bowl LVIII commercial for the Catholic app Hallow.
“God, we take this moment just to give You thanks,” Walhberg’s voice said in a teaser for the spot, in which he appeared with Roumie, who plays Jesus Christ in the Biblical series “The Chosen.”
Then, a message flashed on the screen: “For the first time ever, join over 100 million people in prayer during Super Bowl LVIII.”
The Hallow app, according to the company, offers prayer-on-the-go and provides users with the opportunity to personalize their prayer experience with a custom-tailored daily prayer routine, according to People.
Users can also “connect with friends and family” and build “custom family groups” on Hallow, according to the report.
“The goal at Hallow has always been to reach out to as many folks as possible, both those who take their faith seriously and especially those who might have fallen away, and invite them deeper into a relationship with God,” said Alex Jones, Hallow co-founder and CEO, in a press release touting its Super Bowl LVIII commercial.
“When we learned about the timing of the Big Game this year, we couldn’t have been more excited to work with Mark and Jonathan to use it as an opportunity to invite millions into prayer.”
According to Hallow, the app has more than 10,000 sessions including a Daily Rosary, Daily Gospel, Daily Saint, Novenas, Examens, Father Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year, The Chosen’s Jonathan Roumie’s audio Bible, Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons, peaceful Christian music and Gregorian chant.
It launched in December 2018 and has been downloaded 10 million times and used to pray over 300 million times across 150-plus countries.
Wahlberg told “The Today Show” in February 2023, during Lent on Ash Wednesday, that he tries to “balance” his religious views with his public persona.
“I don’t want to jam it down anybody’s throat, but I do not deny my faith,” he told Savanna Guthrie, according to People. “That’s an even bigger sin.
“You know, it’s not popular in my industry, but I cannot deny my faith,” he said. “It’s important for me to share that with people. But I have friends from all walks of life and all different types of faith and religions, so it’s important to respect and honor them as well.”
“The Chosen” was granted a waiver to continue filming during last year’s double-whammy WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which delayed shooting on most TV series and threw Hollywood into chaos from May through November.
The series, now in its second season, airs on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the largest Christian Television Network in the world.
Roumie, 39, is half Egyptian and half Irish. Before starring as Jesus Christ in “The Chosen,” he appeared on television series including “The Good Wife,” “As the World Turns” and “Castle.”
He also co-produced, co-directed and was the lead actor in “The Last Days: The Passion and Death of Jesus,” a live performance about the passion of Christ.
He played evangelist Lonnie Frisbee in the 2023 movie “Jesus Revolution.”
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