{"id":18976,"date":"2022-04-01T09:32:07","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=18976"},"modified":"2023-12-28T08:54:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T13:54:31","slug":"mickey-rourke-credits-faith-and-prayer-for-saving-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2022\/04\/mickey-rourke-credits-faith-and-prayer-for-saving-him.html","title":{"rendered":"Mickey Rourke Credits Faith and Prayer For Saving Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Panayotis Tzamaros\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mickey Rourke is a man who\u2019s been through a lot in his life. Now, he\u2019s crediting the Lord, prayer, and a faith leader who once counseled him for helping keep him on a positive path, proclaiming, \u201cThere is a God\u201d during an interview with Fox News.<\/p>\n

The actor, who starred in the film \u201cMan of God,\u201d told the outlet he would have lived a very different life if not for his late grandmother, who was very religious. Rourke said he faced many challenges growing up but started believing in a higher power.<\/p>\n

Rourke said of the difficult times he faced, \u201cYou either live in that shame and be a broken man, or you get hard. I was very comfortable on the streets growing up. But there is a God. My priest told me, \u2018God hears everything you say. He just doesn\u2019t give it to you when you want it. You\u2019ve got to keep persevering and keep communicating with him. You\u2019ve got to talk to God before the house burns down.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rourke remembered some struggles, mainly his brother Joey\u2019s cancer diagnosis when Joey was 17 and Rourke was 18, a time of trouble during which the family learned that Joey only had six months to live.<\/p>\n

Joey survived and didn\u2019t pass away until decades later. But Rourke struggled to process that eventual loss,\u00a0telling Fox News\u00a0he didn\u2019t pray for two years after his brother\u2019s 2004 death until he met a priest named the Rev.\u00a0Peter Colapietro. Rourke said he would talk with the priest on weekends and tell him he didn\u2019t want to pray. However, Colapietro noted that everyone suffers and loses loved ones and understood how he was feeling.<\/p>\n

Rourke said at that moment, he felt understood, but it still took him two years before he could pray again. Through guidance and therapy, Rourke said he was able to overcome. The actor also shared his journey to make movies that matter. \u201cMan of God\u201d is about Greek Orthodox saint St. Nektarios of Aegina,\u00a0who performed\u00a0good deeds and faced persecution. Rourke said the story has a lot of \u201cintegrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rourke told Fox News, \u201cI don\u2019t want to make movies where it\u2019s just one guy and a machine gun killing 200 other people just because it sells. That\u2019s for somebody else. It\u2019s not for me. But one thing I\u2019ve learned is that everything\u2019s in God\u2019s hands.\u201d Watching a loved one deal with cancer can be hard for anyone. It can be more challenging when that loved one dies. In those times, we question why God would allow someone to suffer. We also ask why He would take away someone we loved and cherished.<\/p>\n

However, instead of questioning God, we should use those moments to thank Him for letting us borrow His creation. We should also thank Him for taking away their pain and bringing them into His Kingdom. Everything that God does is for a reason, and while we may not always understand that reason, we eventually choose to accept it. You can watch the trailer for “Man of God” below.<\/p>\n