Gospel Reflection – Friday, May 30, 2025

Happy Forgetfulness

Someone once told me that, in old age, they were starting to lose their memory—and that maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing, because they no longer remembered all the pain and struggles others shared with them. Today, Jesus speaks to us of a kind of happy forgetfulness, too—not a forgetfulness that erases joy, but one that comes because of joy.

When a woman gives birth, she goes through intense pain—but then, when she sees her child, her joy erases the suffering. The pain fades, but the joy of life and resurrection remains. That joy—real joy—is something no one can take away. It lives both within us and around us.

Happy forgetfulness is the kind that lets go of the bad to focus on the infinite gift of Christ’s salvation. It’s the forgetfulness that chooses to center on what is good, holy, and just. That doesn’t mean everything will be good from now on. The world is still full of injustice, violence, lies, betrayal, and loss. There are many reasons to feel pain that’s hard—or even impossible—to forget.

But there is something that nothing and no one can take away: our unshakable faith in the overflowing life of the Risen Christ. As Saint Paul says in today’s first reading from Acts:
“Do not be afraid. I am with you.”
That deep joy cannot be taken away.

So today, in a paradoxical way, we are not invited to forget, but to remember. To remember that even our wounds are inhabited—even if they remain open. To recognize that more wounds may come on our journey. We’re not being asked to erase pain, but to see it differently—as part of the unshakable joy that comes from Christ’s presence, a joy that conquers even the worst death.

Happy is the memory that remembers this unmovable truth:
“No one will take your joy away from you.”