Cheers! How are you doing? I hope that you are doing well. In the context of our Catholic Christian faith when I bring up the name of Paul our thoughts might appropriately turn to the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” Since June 29th is the celebration of Saints Peter and Paul we could reflect at length on the lives one or both of those holy men of God. However, for today’s article I would like to look at the life of another Paul who does not have “Saint” before his name.
The Paul that I’m thinking of actually has “Sir” before his name. You might have guessed that I’m referring to the world famous musician, Sir Paul McCartney. Nice guess! Today is actually the 78th birthday for the former member of The Beatles and Wings. While he was baptized as a Roman Catholic you might already know that Sir Paul does not explicitly live out his Christian faith. The intention of this article is not to cast any judgment upon Mr. McCartney nor his personal religious beliefs. Rather, I would like to focus on three songs that he wrote or co-wrote and then elaborate on them from a perspective of faith. Please note that my personal interpretation of these songs might not resonate with the original vision of the author.
The first song is the classic from 1965 called, “Help!” It’s a song which humbly recognizes that we are not islands - literally or figuratively. We all need help from those around us to make it through this journey of life. This is reminiscent of Psalm 69 which implores help from above, “God come to my assistance; Lord, make haste to help me.” Our Heavenly Father knows our needs and desires to help us in our time of need. Sometimes that help is a bit different than we would anticipate. That leads us to the second song by Paul McCartney (and his co-writing friend John Lennon.)
The second song to reflect upon by Sir Paul was the 1970 hit, “Let it Be.” According to various sources, this song was written in honor of Paul’s mom, Mary, who had died of cancer. However, the refrain about “mother Mary” and the wisdom of allowing the circumstances of life to “let it be” can also be applied to the approach of Our Blessed Mother. In fact, during her conversation with the Archangel Gabriel in Nazareth, Our Blessed Mother Mary spoke those very words of, “let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). With the Grace of God we can do the same when challenging or unexpected situations arise in “The Long and Winding Road” of life. That brings us to the last song of the same name to ponder.
The third and final song that I would like to reflect upon was also released in 1970 and is called, “The Long and Winding Road.” We’re all on this road of life, not knowing how long it will be for any of us. We take comfort in the reality that Jesus is on the road with us. Indeed He is The Way, and The Truth, and The Life. May we rely upon His divine help, letting the challenges of life be as they are, with the confident trust that God will be with us on this long and winding road.
