EIMCHI
646
KINGDOM
ever, have been overcome by schools conducted by
nuns of various orders.
When Ivimberley started into existence the number of Catholics in the locaUty necessitated the frequent visit of the priest and very soon the establishment of a permanent mission. Fathers Bompart, Lebihan, and Hidien used to visit them occasionally. Father Hidien finally estabhshed a Catholic Society and began the erection of an hospital. A poor and small chapel was first erected, but owing to the increase of the Catholic congregation, a larger and more substantial one was planned and built. Its erection is due to the inde- fatigable Father Hilary Lenoir, O.M.I. The whole vicariate is greatly indebted to him for all the mis- sions he has founded or helped to found; Ivimber- ley, Mafeking, and Harrismith have, thanks to him, their churches and presbyteries. When, in 1886, a separate vicariate was erected, the Right Reverend Anthony Gaughren, O.M.I., was appointed the first vicar Apostolic; he was elected in May, 1886, conse- crated on 10 August, 1886, and died in Kimberley on 15 January, 1901. On 29 January, 1902, his brother, the Right Rev. Matthew Gaughren, O.M.I., was elected to replace him, and was consecrated Bishop of Tentyra on 16 March, 1902. Under the jurisdiction of these two bishops the Vicariate of Ivimberley has seen its churches and schools multiplied. In 1910 the vicariate possesses : 1 6 churches and chapels ; 1 9 priests (of whom 16 belong to the Order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate); one college under the manage- ment of the Christian Brothers, where over 300 boys receive a thorough education. The Sisters of the Holy Family conduct 6 parochial schools and 3 board- ing schools. The Sisters of Mercy have two schools, a boarding school in Mafeking and a parochial school in Vryburg. The Sisters of St. Jacut conduct at Taungs a school for natives. Taungs has been up to the pres- ent day the only native mission. It was founded in May, 1898, by Father Porte, O.M.I., and counts over 400 Catholics. The total number of children frequent- ing Catholic schools is at present over 1200. Besides the schools, there is in the Vicariate of Ivimberley an establishment for orphans, the poor, and the aged; it is managed by the Sisters of Nazareth. The devoted- ness and self-sacrifice of these Sisters have not a little contributed to overcome the prejudices of Protestants who help them generously in the upkeep of their estab- lishment: where over one hundred and fifty children and aged persons are cared for; it may be mentioned that all the primary schools are in part supported by the Government. Besides the 16 Oblates and the 3 secular priests, 3 lay brothers, 11 Christian Brothers (Irish), 42 Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux, 14 Sisters of Nazareth, 5 Sisters of Saint Jacut, and 12 Sisters of Mercy are carrying out the work of regen- eration in the vicariate.
One of the great obstacles to evangelization in this vicariate is caused by the fact of the population being scattered and unsettled. This prevents the priest from being in continual touch with his flock. The small number of priests has not permitted an increase of mission work amongst the natives, who far outnum- ber the white population. At present the mining in- dustry seems to be the only source of material wealth, and its duration is uncertain. In the farming dis- tricts, though communication has been facilitated Ijy the construction of railways, the future seems pre- carious owing to droughts, cattle diseases, locusts, etc. As a consequence the population is unsettled and shifts ing, and sacerdotal vocations within the vicariate are hardly to bo expected for the present. Catechisms and prayer Ijooks in the native language have, liow- ever, been compiled by Father Porte who made an expedition into Bechuanaland, in 1898, and discovered tliat the natives, while akin in race and speech to the Basutos, are more rooted in fetishism.
Annah of the Oblale Fathers; iSuuth A frica and tie future (Cape
Town, 3. d.)- Keane. The Boer States, Land and People (Lon-
don. 1900); Brvden, Gun and Camera in South .4 fnVa (London.
1893); WoLDERs, Aus dem Orange-Freistat (1885); Piglet, Les
Missions Catholiques, V (Paris, s. d.), 3-0-362; Norris-New-
MAN, With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State in
IflSO-Sl (London, 1882); Little, South Africa: Sketch-book of
Men and Manners (London, 1888). A LancotTFT
Eimchi, David. See Commentaries on the Bible.
Kingdom of God (in Matthew, generally. King- dom OF Heaven). — In this expression the innermost teaching of the Old Testament is summed up, but it should be noted that the word kingdom means ruling as well; thus it signifies not so much the actual king- dom as the sway of the king — cf . the Chaldaic ni3^D, Dan., iv, 28-29. The Greek ^atrCKela of the New Testament also has these two meanings — cf. Aris- totle, " Pol.", II, xi, 10; II, xiv; IV, xiii, 10. We find the teaching of the New Testament foreshadowed in the theocracy sketched in Ex., xix, 6; in the estab- lishment of the kingdom, I Ivings, viii, 7: "They have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them." Still more clearly is it indicated in the promise of the theocratic kingdom, II Kings, vii, 14- 16. It is God Who rules in the theocratic king and Who will avenge any neglect on his part. All through the Psalter this same thought is found; cf. Ps. x, 5; xiii, 2; xxxi, 23; Ixxxviii, 12, etc. In these passages it is constantly insisted that God's throne is in heaven and that there is His kingdom; this may ex- plain St. Matthew's preference for the expression " kingdom of heaven ", as being more familiar to the Hebrews for whom he wrote. The Prophets dwell on the thought that God is the Supreme Iving and that by Him alone all kings rule; cf. Isaias, xxxvii, 16, 20. And when the temporal monarchy has failed, this same thought of God's ultimate rule over His people is brought into clearer relief till it culminates in the grand prophecy of Dan., vii, 13 sq., to which the thoughts of Christ's hearers must have turned when they heard Him speak of His kingdom. In that vision the power of ruling over all the forces of evil as symbolized by the four beasts which are the four kingdoms is given to "one like the son of man". At the same time we catch a glimpse in the apocry- phal Psalms of Solomon of the way in which, side by side with the truth, there giew up among the carnal- minded the idea of a temporal sovereignty of the Messias, an idea which was (Luke, xix, 11; Matt., xviii, 1 ; Acts, i, 6) to exercise so baneful an influence on subsequent generations; cf. especially Ps. Sol., xvii, 23-28, where God is besought to raise up the King, the Son of David, to crush the nations and purify Jerusalem, etc. In the Greek Book of Wis- dom, however, we find the most perfect realization of what was truly implied by this "rule" of God — "She [Wisdom] led the just man through direct paths and shewed him the kingdom of God", i. e. in what that kingdom consisted.
In the New Testament the speedy advent of this kingdom is the one theme: "Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand", said the Baptist, and Christ's opening words to the people do but re- peat that message. At every stage in His teaching the advent of this kingdom, its various aspects, its precise meaning, the way in which it is to be at- tained, form the staple of His discourses, so much so that His discourse is called "the gospel of the king- dom". And the various shades of meaning which the expression bears have to be studied. In the mouth of Christ the "kingdom" means not so much a goal to be attained or a place — though those mean- ings are by no means excluded; cf. Matt., v, 3; xi, 2, etc. — it is rather a tone of mind (Luke, xvii, 20-21), it stands for an influence which must permeate men's minds if they would be one with Him and attain to His ideals; cf. Luke, ix, 55. It is only by realizing these shades of meaning that we can do justice to
