The Cold Bench in the Park

DAY 9 “The Cold Bench in the Park”

“Welcome, dear friend. We are in Day 9 of Advent,
and this is Tiny Advent Parables with Fr. Dominic —
where our deepest longings meet God’s gentle presence.”

“Today’s story takes place on a winter evening…
at a lonely bench in the park.”

“A widower walked to the same park bench every evening
even in the cold winter months.
He sat there quietly,
hands folded,
eyes fixed on the lake ahead.
A passerby one day asked,
‘Why sit here in the cold?
It must be uncomfortable.’
The man replied softly,
‘This is where I used to sit with my wife.
When I sit here,
my heart remembers love
and longs for heaven.’
His longing was not despair —
it was love stretching toward eternity.”

“Advent is the season of holy longing —
the ache for God,
the yearning for healing,
the desire for a Savior.
Longing is not a weakness;
it is the soul reaching
for something only God can fill.
Your longing is prayer.
Your ache is an altar.
Your desire for God
is already God desiring you.”

“So today ask:
‘What do I deeply long for in this Advent season?’
Bring that longing to Christ.
And whisper:
‘Lord, come into the spaces my heart longs to fill.’”