Chapter eleven of Luke goes on to show how confident and persevering prayer not only obtains what is asked, but more: the great gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the Sources, the example of Francis is magnificent.
Poor in the things of the world but rich in the Spirit of God, the Poverello considered the Lord as the Great Helmsman who gives abundantly to those who trust in Him.
In the Sources we find an indicative episode:
"The servant of God, who had become very ill, was brought back to Assisi from Nocera by an escort of ambassadors, whom the devout people of Assisi had sent.
The escorts, with the servant of God, arrived at a little poor village called Satriano.
As the hour and hunger made them feel the need for food, they went to look for it in the village. But finding nothing to buy, they returned empty-handed.
Then the Saint said to these men:
"If you have found nothing, it is because you have more faith in your flies than in God (by 'flies' he meant money).
But go back to the houses through which you passed and humbly ask for alms, offering as payment the love of God.
And do not think that this is a shameful and humiliating gesture: it is a wrong thought, because the Great Almsman, after sin, has made all goods available to the worthy and the unworthy, with most generous kindness'.
The knights put aside their blushes, spontaneously went begging and managed to buy with the love of God what they had not obtained with money.
Indeed, those poor people, moved and inspired by God, generously offered not only their belongings but also themselves.
And so it came to pass that Francis' poverty made up for the indigence that money could not alleviate" (FF 1130).
On the other hand, the Servant of the Lord throughout his life had always believed that God offers much more than we think, giving the Holy Spirit - the Sum of all good things.
In fact, in the Regola bollata (1223) Francis states that one must "desire above all things [...] to have the Spirit of the Lord and his Holy operation" (FF 104), which rests on those who live the Gospel faithfully.
The Poor Man of Christ, in fact, considered Him the Minister of the Order.
And He said:
"With God [...] there is no preference of persons and the Holy Spirit, the general minister of the Order, rests equally on the poor and the simple" (FF 779).
"How much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Lk 11:13b).
Thursday of the 27th wk. in O.T. (Lk 11,5-13)
