Denver Catholic

65 DENVER CATHOLIC | JUNE-JULY 2025 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) 'Whatever your will is': How cancer brought Devin Hays back to faith and purpose Con g r atulations DEVIN 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!" When Devin Hays felt a bump on his head during finals, he chalked it up to stress and a lingering cold. But after developing more symptoms and visiting the campus clinic, doctors couldn't see his heart on the X-ray. Something was wrong. Raised Catholic but distanced from faith during high school, Devin found himself praying for the first time in a long time. "I said, 'Whatever your will is, it's your will. Just help me get through the mental side of this.' That was the moment of surrender." Doctors first believed it was lymphoma, which is a highly curable cancer, but later said they said it was aggressive leukemia, with a 50% five-year survival rate. Then, a surprising biopsy result from another clinic confirmed it was lymphoma after all. "I choose to believe something changed," Devin said. Chemo was brutal, nearly killing him several times. But the support of his parish community, especially Father Rob Wedow and the Knights of Columbus, kept him going. "Even when I looked sick, they treated me like everyone else." Despite treatment, Devin kept up with school and is graduating from CU Boulder in four years. Now in remission, he serves in campus ministry, youth ministry and founded Hospital Homies, a nonprofit that ministers to hospitalized children and their families. "I'm extremely grateful to have gone through this," he said. "It taught me about the immense hurt in the world, but also the extreme grace Christ brings through it." D I SCI P LE O F TH E M O NTH

• Cover