The three friends and the King, a letter by blessed Elder Arsenios Spileotis and Hesychast

Elder Arsenios Spileotis (1886-1983), fellow struggler for more than 40 years with Saint Elder Joseph the Hesychast ( 1897-1959)

Mount Athos,

My dear child, P. I wish you the best. I have received your letter and I am pleased for your good health.

You did a good deed with the money you have sent me, because I needed it. I am working in the garden and I have been trying to carry water with a small tin because we did not have enough money to buy pipes. With these monies I will now buy the pipes and will be able to rest a great deal. I pray that you have the proper reward from God and that our Christ will give you the eternal goodness and also for us to be together in Paradise. Amen. Amen.

read more

God versus Mammon

«No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.» (Matt 6:24, New King James Version) 

The New Testament contains 2,084 verses dealing with money and finance. Sixteen of Jesus’ thirty-eight parables deal with money. The reason Jesus spoke so much about money was because He was always trying to see where a person’s loyalty resided. «For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also» (Matt 6:21, New King James Version). He said a person could not serve two masters. Instead, he will love one but hate the other.