26/04/2026
One came to the Pacific as a sower.
The other grew as the first fruit.
Metropolitan Amphilochios arrived in lands far from his own, carrying the faith as life—building, baptising, ordaining, and planting the Church where it had not been known. What began humbly was nevertheless real, like a seed set into the soil of the Pacific.
That seed, sown through his labours, was received in the hearts of the local people. In time, it began to bear fruit. Among those in whom it took root was Fr. Bartholomew—born of that same soil—who, in his ordination, received the grace of the priesthood and came to embody it within his own people. In him, the Church was no longer something newly received; it had begun to live and grow from within.
And now both have departed.
The one who planted, and the one in whom the planting bore visible fruit, have both been gathered. They have not been taken away from the work, but received into its fulfillment, which we do not yet see as it is.
What we call an ending is not seen in the same way in the Kingdom. The seed disappears into the earth; the fruit falls; both pass from our sight. Yet nothing is lost to God.
We remain, still within time, still unable to see the fullness. But we are not left without witness. We have seen the beginning, and we have seen the first fruit. And now both are hidden with Christ.
The Mission does not belong to those who began it, nor to those who continue it. It belongs to the One who gives life, who calls, who gathers, and who brings all things to their true completion.
So we entrust them both to Him whom they served.
And we remain with a certainty that what has been sown in faith, and lived in humility, will not pass away.
May the Lord grant rest to His servants, where there is no pain, no sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.
May their memory be eternal.
Christ is Risen.
