Patterico's Pontifications

8/4/2019

Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 94

Filed under: Bach Cantatas,General,Music — Patterico @ 12:01 am



It is the eighth Sunday after Pentecost. Today’s Bach cantata is “Was frag ich nach der Welt” (What should I ask of the world):

Today’s Gospel reading is Luke 12:13-21:

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:

What should I ask of the world
and all its treasures
when only in You,
My Jesus, can I find delight!
You alone have I placed
before me for pleasure:
You, You are my rest;
what should I ask of the world!

The world is like smoke and shadows
that quickly dissipate and disappear,
since they last only a short time.

. . . .

A proud man builds the most opulent palaces,
he seeks the highest post of honor,
he dresses himself with the best
in purple, gold, in silver, silk and velvet.
His name shall resound before everyone
in every part of the world.
His tower of arrogance
shall press upward through the air to the clouds,
he is occupied only with the highest matters
and never thinks once
how quickly all these pass away.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

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