Laying a new foundation — what does it take to do that when work is already in progress?

I ask because the readings and feasts this week repeat that theme over and over from various angles, and it gives us some good food for thought as we lay new foundations for parish life even while it is already in progress.

On Aug. 21, we celebrate the feast of St. Pius X. His papal motto was “Renew All Things in Christ.” One of the ways he did that was to change the age at which children receive first Communion. People were already receiving Communion, but he laid a new and deeper foundation for what that meant. He also initiated the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law — the first gathering of all Church law into one place. The Church already had laws, but he laid the foundation of a new and deeper way of collecting those laws. He knew what it meant to lay a new foundation for something already in progress!

We hear about Gideon this week in the Book of Judges. Gideon arises as a leader at a time when Israel is oppressed by its enemies. Salvation history is already in progress: Israel had received the law and is in the Promised Land. But God lays a new foundation again and again with judges like Gideon, bringing forth leaders to renew the covenant fidelity of the people.

We hear a shortened version of the story of Ruth this week. Ruth came from Moab, so she was a foreigner to Israel. She married into an Israelite family that was living in Moab during a time of famine. After she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, were widowed, Naomi decided to return to Israel. Rather than stay in her home country, Ruth — in an act of great personal fidelity — decided to go with Naomi back to Israel. Because of this act of great personal fidelity, God blessed Ruth, and she became the great-grandmother of King David. The fulfillment of the promises was already in progress, but God lays a new foundation for His people in Ruth.

Finally, we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary this week on Aug. 22. It’s another great example of this theme. A small word (yes) is uttered by a teenage girl (Mary) in a small town (Nazareth) in a small nation (Israel) — and this small thing lays a new foundation for the salvation of the world!

God is constantly at work in the history of His people. But, as we see this week, laying the foundation of that work is not a “one-and-done” event in the past. All through salvation history God has laid a new foundation for His people over and over, even while their life was in progress. The current life of the Church is no different.

As we observe our patronal feast this week — the feast of St. Louis on Aug. 25 — it will be good for us to consider how God continues this process in us and in the Church today. How is God laying a new foundation for us these days, even while our lives of faith are already in progress?