Denver Catholic

57 DENVER CATHOLIC | APRIL-MAY 2025 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) DISCIPLE OF THE MONTH "We have the responsibility to protect life": Loving neighbor by defending the dignity of life Con g r atulations LAURA for being the Archbishop's Catholic Appeal "Disciple of the Month." If you know someone else who is courageously spreading the Gospel, please share his or her story with us at give.archden.org/nominate and they may become the next "Disciple of the Month!" Over the past few years, Laura Acosta, a parishioner at Holy Cross in Thornton, has dedicated herself to educating others and getting involved in the pro-life movement. She came to realize the devastating effects of abortion on our society through a talk in Apostles of the Word, a ministry she was involved in at the time, and everything changed for her. Acosta began volunteering with Respect Life Denver, a ministry of Catholic Charities, and began a pro-life group at her parish, which later connected with Prayer in the Square, a prayer movement, becoming the first Spanish-language group within the movement. Beyond the parish pro-life group, Acosta prays outside Planned Parenthood clinics once a month. "This ministry and the homilies at Mass have helped me to understand what God wants for each person, why he has created us, why we are here. They've also helped me to understand the incredible love God has for us, even before we were conceived in our mother's womb," she said. Today, Acosta desires to expand the pro-life ministry to include more people, especially in the Hispanic community, where she says the topic of abortion is often taboo. "God has called me to serve this ministry because this ministry has given me more than I could have ever given it," she concluded. D I SCI P LE O F TH E M O NTH

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