Someone to Watch Over Me

Dear Friend,

The song “Someone to Watch Over Me” was created by the brothers George and Ira Gershwin in 1926, and I had to smile when I heard it this week while preparing my homily for Good Shepherd Sunday. It has that lyric of great longing and gentle humor: I’m a little lamb who’s lost in the wood/ I know I could/ always be good/ to one who’ll watch over me. Irresistible – the ballad’s been covered by everyone from Willie Nelson to Ella Fitzgerald. 

The word shepherd is weighted with so much meaning in the Hebrew scriptures, including connections to the life story of David, with all his wanderings, getting lost, and as referenced in Psalm 132, “all the many hardships he endured” (and brought on himself). To all of this, Jesus counters with “I am the good shepherd,” bringing all the assurance and relief anyone could ask for: I know mine and mine know me.  

And yet, for any “little lamb” lost in the woods of depression, grief, or hardship, that deep longing and even deep loneliness can persist. It is only through the grace of God that the Body of Christ as Church or any individual disciple can become the voice of Jesus for another person. As scholars point out, there are no “second generation” disciples for the writer of John’s Gospel; rather, each one of us knows and is known through direct contact with the Father through Jesus himself. In the life of St. Francis Jesus is the author of every moment of “holy newness.”  

Surely the Gershwin brothers had none of this in mind when they wrote their song back in 1926. Though in fact - talk about needing a good shepherd - Ira Gershwin was hospitalized at the time with a ruptured appendix!

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm