Monthly Archives: May 2022

Christ's ascent to heaven is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Clotilde Church in Chicago in 2008. The feast of the Ascension celebrates the completion of Christ's mission on earth and his entry into heaven. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

In Bethany, near Jerusalem, there is a small domed Church that commemorates Christs ascension into heaven. Inside, you can see the exact spot, marked as it is by Christs own footprint in the stone floor. This earthly vestige of Christ, seemingly the result of the force required to ascend to heaven, might better represent the questions we ask about the Ascension.

Where did Christ go? And why? (My kids also wonder, How? But this is a question I cannot answer fully, though it has to do more with his glorified body than a supernatural blast upon a stone floor.)

So, where did Christ go? The psalm in the Sunday readings suggests he ascended to his throne, while the other readings tell us that he ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father. This imagery is also found in the wording of the Apostles Creed. Now, friends, this language makes it seem like Christ is reposing in heaven, enjoying some respite from the work of salvation for which he was sent by the Father in the first place. But, lets look a little closer.

Lets look at the language in Pauls epistle, where it shows that being at Gods right hand is to be: far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way (Eph 1:21-23).

Aha! So Christ being enthroned and sitting at the right hand of the Father is language that describes Christs reign over the Kingdom of God. Christ is not lounging in heaven, having accomplished our salvation, but he is continuously carrying out our salvation, with power and glory. Christ continuously gives himself to the Church, which is his body, his spouse.

And here we run into the why. Why did Christ ascend to heaven? Why didnt he, the glorified risen Lord, who was victorious over death, stay here with us, his spouse, forever? Because he wanted us to be bound even more intimately to God, and with one another, as the Church. Christ told us about this intimate dwelling-with twice in this Sundays readings: I am sending the promise of the Father upon you and you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts, to dwell interiorly. When Christ ascends such that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, the Church (which we are!) is bound to her spouse by the very love that is God. And, friends, because Christ ascended in his glorified body, our very humanity has been taken up into the life of God! Truly, this is an exchange of love carried out for us by Gods desire to dwell intimately with us.

And so, friends, as we celebrate this ascension of the Lord to the right hand of the Father, perhaps looking intently at the sky, let us also begin to look for the promise of the Father: the Holy Spirit. And so I close with a few beautiful words from a homily by Pope Francis for Pentecost in 2017:

The Holy Spirit is the fire of love burning in the Church and in our hearts, even though we often cover him with the ash of our sins. Let us ask him: Spirit of God, Lord, who dwell in my heart and in the heart of the Church come! Like water, we need you to live. Come down upon us anew teach us to love as you love us, to forgive as you forgive us. Amen.'

Catherine Cavadini, Ph.D., is the assistant chair of the Department of Theology and director of the masters in theology program at the University of Notre Dame.

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Opening the Word: Scripture answers the 'why' of the Ascension - Our Sunday Visitor

A pandemic-inspired pickup game became the locus of the sport on campus while official club play wasn't allowed.

Our coverage of the 2022 College Series is presented by Spin Ultimate. You can get 15% off all college uniforms and swag right now atSpin Ultimate!

You dream about being the first team in your programs history to make Nationals, but actually being in a position to take that giant leap can feel more feverish than a soft slumber. Up 11-6 in the game-to-go to Nationals, the last of three bids in the South Central region up for grabs, and Washington University Contra are within reach of something that has eluded their program through its 35-year history.

Its been a long weekend of hard-won successes and a humbling loss to Texas that knocked Contra into this do-or-die game against Colorado State. One win to cement the program into a new echelon of the sport, or one loss to add to the pile of season-ending Regionals bummers. In these conditions, even a five-point second-half lead feels precarious. You could wake up at any moment and find yourself back in the land of also-rans. So by the time the score narrowed to 12-10, game to 13, a potential nightmare had started to stir.

Another break from Colorado State and the meltdown would truly be on. So in this moment of intense pressure, a legacy-defining moment, who steps up? For Contra, it was a first-year, Cam Freeman, putting the disc into the end zone to sophomore Noah Stovitz and locking up Wash Us first-ever bid to Nationals. A lot of teams making Natties for the first time are led by a golden generation of upperclassmen, often a generation optimized by mortgaging the development of underclassmen. But in this case, its appropriate that it was an underclassman putting the rock in for the winning goal, as this Contra team was propelled over the final hurdle by a swath of first years and sophomores playing huge roles in the biggest moments for the team.

Okay, youre thinking. They must have gotten a bunch of YCC kids. Big recruiting pipeline from some high school powerhouse programs. All of these underclassmen have probably been playing high-level ultimate since they were in braces.

Not exactly.

Contra forged their youth movement through a COVID-era necessitated, team-unaffiliated pickup game facilitated by a Snapchat group, which grew organically out of the pandemic boredom of a bunch of first years and blossomed into the spine of the team that made Nationals for the first time in program history. Not quite Triforce or ATLiens, but for Wash U, it was exactly the thing they needed. The story of how this pickup game came together forever changed the legacy of the Contra program, and the lives of the people involved.

Flash back to fall 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is still in its pre-vaccine era of unknowns and anxieties, no one feeling sure what the next few months or even weeks could bring. And while some parts of life are suspended on indefinite hiatus, others are moving forward in awkward lurches of not-quite normalcy. Leaves are changing color. Babies are being born. Students are still matriculating into universities.

Two specific first years, Seth Fisher-Olvera and Nic Sprague, arrive on campus at Washington University in St. Louis and are randomly assigned as roommates. Seth is from Vermont and already has the frisbee bug; he started playing ultimate before high school and was excited to have the quintessential college ultimate experience hes dreamed about. Nic is a high school soccer player from New Jersey, planning on trying out for the club soccer team. Hes never played ultimate before. His visions of glory in college involve kicking goals, not catching them. But they, like every other first year in the fall of 2020, were going to be in for a very different reality than what they had been envisioning.

As anyone who has gone through a regular first year of college remembers, the first weeks on campus should be full of random meet-ups, exploring campus, and finding your place in this new environment. Potentially that happens by joining one of the hundreds of clubs on campus all vying for your participation with varying levels of enthusiastic recruiting techniques. But this year, none of that was happening.

During that first fall of the pandemic, Wash U had closed off almost all activities on campus. Classes were all online for the semester, students were not allowed to be in dorm buildings that they didnt live in, seating in dining halls was severely restricted, and everyone was masked all the time. As you can imagine, it was particularly hard on the first years who did not have any of those traditional ways to meet people and make friends as they start their college journeys. Thinking back to those first weeks, it was very hard to socialize, said Sprague, especially in a safe manner.

While varsity sports were allowed to continue under restrictions, club sports were not allowed to organize any regular events. This meant that both the mens and womens ultimate teams at Wash U werent allowed to practice. The teams depend on funding from the school to go to tournaments, and they couldnt risk their good relationship with the administration. So even though they wanted to, none of the guys on Contra were practicing or getting to play regularly.

Against this backdrop, incoming first-years found themselves deprived of many of the opportunities and structures that would normally funnel them into the social and competitive environments college can offer. Instead, they would have to figure out how to create a college experience for themselves.

After dinner on their first day on campus, Nic asked Seth if he wanted to throw a frisbee in one of the central residential quads. While there usually would have been too many mandatory orientation activities, this year there was not a lot else they were even allowed to do.

It may not have been the most exciting experience of all time, but that first night tossing sure beat staring at a dorm wall and contemplating lost youth.

That evening out throwing at Mudd Field provided some semblance of collegiate normalcy, so Nic and Seth continued to throw regularly, making it an almost nightly ritual. A few days later they randomly sat down for lunch next to a fellow first-year named Sam Schwartz. Sam was interested in playing ultimate but had never been able to give it a shot. When he heard that Nic and Seth had been tossing, he wanted in. That weekend, the trio put together a Saturday morning game of 2v2 box with another first-year who had been drawn in by the flight of the disc during Nic and Seths sessions. It went great and became another part of the routine.

Soon, the word got out, and each time they played or were throwing, people would walk by and ask to join. More and more people wanted to get in on the action, and eventually a Snapchat group was created to coordinate the newly forged crew of frisbee obsessives.

The first womens player to join was Casey Ellyson, a first-year from Atlanta who had played ultimate in high school at Paideia, bringing the grand total of people who truly knew how to play the sport to two. At the beginning, Seth and Casey were basically the only ones who knew the rules. But the lack of knowledge did not bely any lack of enthusiasm, and soon the group grew and grew until they were playing 7v7 (and even 8v8 one time when Seth and Casey werent there to explain why that was sacrilege). They played all-gender mini, almost exclusively barefoot and always masked. No one knew what a force was, let alone a stack, and most people could only throw either a forehand or backhand, if that. But that pure, simple thrill of chasing down a disc, of running around with a bunch of peers, more than made up for any deficiencies in skill. It was a group of people who played the games for the sake of having fun and coming together through frisbee in a time when there were not a lot of other ways to make connections.

Before long, the group became the center of gravity for peoples lives, including Seth, Nic, Sam, Casey, and the other mainstays at the pick-up games and throwing sessions. The group forged close friendships just from the organic collection of people who were playing frisbee together. They all met the people who are now their closest friends through playing mini and throwing. For Sprague, It led to me having all of the friends I have now. 95% of the people I know on campus come from frisbee either directly or indirectly.

About two months after the birth of this pick-up group, one of the members of the mens team at Wash U, Rob Slutsky, walked by a mini session. Witnessing the closest thing to real ultimate hed seen on campus since the start of the pandemic, he jumped right in. After working up a nice sweat, Rob put the word out to some Contra players through the teams group chat: theres frisbee happening, and its really fun. Eventually, a bunch of other players from Contra started coming to games; since it wasnt associated with the team and thus was allowed by the school, it was a go.

By early February, there were over 100 people in the pick-up chat (which by that point had switched to a GroupMe to avoid the Snapchat group limit) and there were regularly over 20 people coming out for daily mini on nice days. It wasnt organized with any divining principle beyond enjoyment but through all of these reps, the level of skill had increased substantially over the course of the year. Seth and Casey had been teaching people some of the basic skills and schemes, and when some of the Contra guys started to come, the number of people with frisbee knowledge skyrocketed.

This wasnt how Contras leadership had envisioned their recruitment and player development process playing out, but this pick-up game soon became the locus point of ultimate on campus.

Before the pandemic, Contra would have a fairly conventional recruiting process. Current 5th year player on the team Josh Gabella outlined the traditional steps of shoving flyers about tryouts under the doors of first years dorms, putting posters up in the student center and sending a delegation to student event fairs. That would all lead to about 80-100 guys showing up for tryouts. Wed get a mix of some people with experience at ultimate, some who came from other sports, said Gabella. It would be a quick process of open tryouts and a tryout tournament, and after about three weeks it usually boils down to about 8-10 guys getting rostered.

But shorn of normal recruiting methods, Contra found themselves getting a good look at some promising players in the GroupMe games, and starting to think about how they could make the two worlds come together.

There was some initial hesitation, said Gabella about potentially, like, moving in on their game. We had conversations about it, about not stealing their thing, but the people running the game had no problem with us being there. They were just happy to get more people at the games and we were just happy to be playing. The team and the pickup group integrated seamlessly.

As the Spring 2021 semester wore on, the recruiting brains of the Contra players switched on. At the close of the semester and into the fall, as the school began allowing official club activities again, the Contra returners in the group tried to bring the GroupMe gamers into the Contra fold.

Its hard to recruit athletic sophomores, said captain Ben Reimler. Because usually they have already found their thing, especially zero ultimate experience athletic guys. The mini group had good athletes gain experience that they may normally not have gotten during the normal fall tryout system.

Even despite this experience, the positive athletic upside, and the encouragement of the Contra players, several members of the pickup group had to be convinced that they were good enough to play ultimate at an officially organized level.

A lot of them were initially intimidated, reluctant to tryout, said Gabella. We made it as simple as possible. Told them that we have an A and a B team, let them know that no matter what happens there was a place for them in our community.

It worked. Heading into the 2022 season, Wash U Contra was flush with a strong sophomore class despite not having an official season the year prior, and a strong presence of first-years who had joined up through the continued presence of the pick-up game.

Fast forward to the spring of 2022, and Contra starts out the spring season with an encouraging showing at Santa Barbara Invite in late January. The team kept working through the cold winter weather in St. Louis, with a long stretch until their next tournament at Midwest Throwdown in early March. The contingent of sophomore rookies like Seth and Nic are carving out big roles for themselves, and soon almost the entire starting D-line is made up of new players, many of whom came from the pick-up GroupMe.

After a tough 11-10 universe point loss to Colorado College at Midwest Throwdown, the team doubled down even more on their youth movement, moving talented first years Cam Freeman and Joel Brown to the O-line to solidify Contras offensive firepower. They rolled through the competition at Huck Finn on their final day of the regular season and set themselves up for a run through the Series.

Then came Regionals, and the game-to-go, and Freeman finding Stovitz to seal Contras place in history.

Out of the nine sophomores on Contra who were on campus during 2020, all nine of them were regulars at the GroupMe games, and six of them had never played the sport before seeing it by chance one day in the early fall of 2020. Seth, Nic, and a third member of the pickup group Wilson Tryon are the leaders of the D-line, playing large roles all throughout the season. The contributions brought to the team by the underclassman who never got to play college ultimate before this season have been irreplaceable.

Messaging in the pick-up GroupMe has slowed this year with its core members playing on the organized club teams in a return to so-called normalcy. The empty void of time and in-person interaction that led to the groups creation has been filled with the hectic schedules of college students that are balancing regular practices, schoolwork, social gatherings, all while trying to get enough sleep.

Casey, now a member of WUWU, the Wash U womens team, notes some sadness that no one has the time [for pickup] anymore it was pretty special. As Seth describes the bittersweet feeling of living a more normal college life, he also recognizes how those strange days of pickup stay with him. Its legacy is the friendships and the players on our team who learned how to play frisbee on Mudd. Nic joins in, if I could go back, I wouldnt change a thing.

Its unlikely that Contra will ever get to repeat this formula for building the foundation of a Nationals qualifier. Hopefully, theyll never have to. But as we all reckon with the changes forced upon us by the pandemic, how our expectations and dreams have been shattered and diverted, take a little joy from seeing how Contra made a dream come true by picking up the pieces of how they thought things were, and creating something that should be.

More here:

The GroupMe Game: An Unlikely Aid in Washington University's Ascension to Nationals - Ultiworld

LSU awarded a record 4,603 degrees at the universitys 307th commencement exercises.

Every degree candidates name was called individually at separate ceremonies for each college held at locations on campus Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21.

Starting this spring, graduates received a newly redesigned diploma inspired by the diploma awarded to students in 1899. Graduates received a digital version of their diploma on graduation day, along with a diploma cover. Printed diplomas will be shipped to graduates.

Area graduates include:

Karina Ramirez Rodriguez, Gonzales

Carinne Elizabeth Tyrrell, Prairieville

Tyler Shawn Ward, Prairieville

College of the Coast & Environment

Jeremy J. Thompson, Prairieville

College of Agriculture

Anna Marie des Bordes, Prairieville

Brooke Allen Ducote, Prairieville

Currie Flynn Dudley, Prairieville

Danielle Monique Dugas, Prairieville

Meredith Giles, Prairieville

Blake A. Halbert, Gonzales

Sarah E. Lackey, Prairieville

Robert Paul Lemann III, Donaldsonville

Madison A. Marquette, Donaldsonville

Gwyneth Patrice Miller, Gonzales

Ryan Kenneth Moreau, St. Amant

Janice Ranae Neese, Prairieville

Mitchell Allen Reed, Prairieville

Riley Lauren Regira, Gonzales

Tanner Michael Royer, Prairieville

Maci Ann Schexnayder, Donaldsonville

Julie Jace Svec, Gonzales

Caroline E. Tousinau, Prairieville

Mackenzie L. Toussel, Geismar

College of Art & Design

Nnamdi Anyaele, Prairieville

Brennan James Cathey, Geismar

Rylee Ann Martin, Prairieville

William Stephen Stark, Prairieville

Kaileigh Mckenzie Thomas, Gonzales

Lauren Gianna Thompson, Gonzales

E.J. Ourso College of Business

Christine M. Boudreaux, Prairieville

Lauren Marie Delhaye, St. Amant

Madison Leigh Diez, Gonzales

Noah Benjamin Dollar, Gonzales

Aleshia Renia Fefie, Gonzales

Karina Rose Goldthorp, Prairieville

Joshua Michael Johnson, Prairieville

Paige Kimball Johnson, Prairieville

Hector Fransisco Joya, Geismar

Mallory Baker King, Prairieville

Nicholas Jude LeJeune, Gonzales

Matthew Douglas Maier, Prairieville

Jacob P. Marchand, Gonzales

Conley Andre Menard, Prairieville

Joshua Baden Mitchell, Prairieville

Christopher Michael Nicolay, Prairieville

Austin H. Price, Prairieville

Cambrie K. Reed, Donaldsonville

Gabrielle Robert, Darrow

Landon Paul Simoneaux, Geismar

Hayden Robert Utrera, Gonzales

Israel Ulysses Warr, Donaldsonville

College of Engineering

Nicholas John Anderson, Gonzales

Cade Oneal Babin, St. Amant

Gray Allen Bailey, Prairieville

Garrison Martin Beiriger, Gonzales

Colby Cameron Conish, Gonzales

Griffin Theodore Edwards, St. Amant

Tristan Seattle Evans, Geismar

Victoria Leigh Gautreau, St. Amant

Mason Anthony Gonzales, Gonzales

Jordan Andrew Guidry, Gonzales

Joshua Aaron Guitreau, St. Amant

Jordan Shea Hollier, St. Amant

Matthew Trey Jordan, Prairieville

Adam Emile Kardorff, Prairieville

Ava Elidia Landry, Geismar

Brandon Garrett Lara, Geismar

Theodore Sebastien Lecloirec-Swindell, Prairieville

Brock Daniel Lundin, Prairieville

Khoivu Dinh Nguyen, Prairieville

Cody Stafford Nickel, Prairieville

Joshua Michael Poirrier, Gonzales

Lindsey Rae Sassone, Prairieville

Dean Francis Schexnaydre, Gonzales

Lindsey Helen Settoon, Prairieville

Joshua Paul Severin, St. Amant

Zachary James Sherman, Geismar

Haleigh Lynne Stevens, Geismar

Chirsten Jacintha Concepcion Tolentino, Prairieville

Carlie Noelle Turk, Prairieville

College of Human Sciences & Education

Jocelyn Mari Arce Dudley, Gonzales

Lindsey Claire Boudreaux, Gonzales

Landon Timothy Burns, Prairieville

Ian Jacob D'Antoni, Prairieville

Camryn Nicole Green, Geismar

Tyler Neel Gremillion, Gonzales

Tylar Hadleigh Griffin, Prairieville

Carsyn Ann Guitrau, St. Amant

Kennedy Christin Honore, Gonzales

Kristin Dawn Lambert, Prairieville

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LSU Class of 2022 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

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PRAIRIEVILLE - An employee at a restaurant along Airline Highway is on the run from law enforcement after he got into a shootout with another man outside the business.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office said deputies are now searching for James Sims of Baton Rouge. The sheriff's office said Sims got into an argument outside a Freddy's restaurant around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday with an acquaintance of his, 29-year-old Justin Boudreaux of Raceland.

Boudreaux was treated at a hospital for injuries he suffered in the gunfight and later booked into the Ascension Parish Jail on charges of attempted second-degree murder, illegal use of weapons, aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by convicted felon, and disturbing the peace.

Deputies are still looking for Sims, who faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon, disturbing the peace, and seven counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Link:

Restaurant worker on the run after gunfight in parking lot of Ascension business - WBRZ

TALLADEGA Ascension Academy held its annual awards day celebration Thursday morning at the First Presbyterian Church.

For the first time, this years presentation included a combined performance by the Elementary School Choir with the assistance of some high school aged students as well. The performance kicked off with This Is Me from The Greatest Showman, which featured a performance by Summer Bice. The whole choir then sang The Carpenters Sing A Song, followed by Somewhere Over the Rainbow featuring Bice, Carmen Brown, Charity Brown, Jalie Bussie, Taleia Easterday and Jeremiah Shears.

The last selection was Tomorrow from the musical Annie, featuring Brantley Ramirez and Amelia Whitson.

But the real reason for the occasion came after the choir performance with the awarding of the years academic honors and recognition of achievements, including graduation.

Braelynn Ramirez graduated from Kindergarten to first grade Thursday, and Carmen Brown and Wyatt Swinford will be moving up from sixth grade (elementary school) to seventh grade..

The top two awards this year were the Directors Award for Appropriate Decisions, Self-Discipline and Determination, which went to Asia Turner; and the Presidential Award for Character and Academic Distinction, which went to David Brown.

The STAR Reading and STAR Math Awards for greatest growth during the year went to Braelynn Ramirez for K through second grade. According to Director of Education Linda Harris, who presented the awards, Braelynn started this year with us not knowing the letters in her name. She has now successfully completed all of the kindergarten state curriculum requirements and is reading and decoding short vowel sounds and reads many sight words. She is ready for first grade reading.

In math, Harris added, she moved from kindergarten to seven months into first-grade level.

Ascension Leadership Academy Choir performs during their awards ceremony.

Tran took the top reading honors for grades three through six, increasing his reading level by one year and five months, where the average student progresses by about nine months per school year.

In math, Brantley Ramirez is a first-grader who started the year on a second grade level and is currently reading at nine months into fourth-grade level, Harris said.

For grades three through six, Carmen Brown has increased math levels by one year and seven months during the past year.

The Elementary School Yearly Average All As award went to Hanson Tran, with elementary school students Carmen Brown, Nyla Brown, John Robert Gallahar and Ashlynn Howell being honored for yearly average all As and Bs.

At the secondary level, Regan Sewell was the only student to earn all As during the first semester. She was joined by Phaethon Brown, Brianna Nino and Ava Parker for second semester.

First semester all A and B honor students included Charity Brown, Damian Brown, David Brown, Phaethon Brown, Brody Howell, Ava Parker, Bailee Taylor and Turner.

Second semester A and B students included Charity Brown, Damian Brown, David Brown, Howell, Emma Lackey, Lainey Swinford, Heaven Tatum and Taylor.

Carmen Brown took top honors in the accelerated reading program, and Tran won the most improved writing award for this year.

Braelynn Ramirez and Nylah Brown were honored for completion of all Alabama Course of Study requirements in reading and math, and Wyatt Swinford was honored for meeting the reading requirement as well.

In keeping with recent tradition, the ceremony concluded with a series of piano recitals from students ranging from first grade to high school.

Originally posted here:

Ascension Academy celebrates annual awards day with more than just awards - The Anniston Star

It might have a weird name, but Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day) is actually one of Germanys merriest public holidays. Perched at the end of May when skies are blue and its warm enough to drink outside, it also happens to be Fathers Day so keep an eye out for tipsy dads trundling crates of beer around in the name of tradition.

But its not all about booze. We round up some of the events and activities taking place in Berlin on May 26, 2022.

This year, the CTM Festival for Adventurous Music and Art is split into two parts, with the second instalment falling over the long Ascension weekend.

From May 24 to 29, CTM offers not only avant-garde electro music in all-night clubs, but an extensive workshop programme where music-makers can exchange ideas.

A series of lectures will focus on the interaction between music and social change, before moving from theory to practice at Berghain, Morphine Raum, Heimathafen Neuklln or the closing party at SchwuZ.

Desertfest takes place in Arena Berlin from May 26 to 29, and pretty much anyone thats anyone in sludge, heavy metal, progressive and psychedelic rock will be there.

Berlin metal institution Kadavar, old-timers Orange Goblin from London, and Baroness, who stirred up a lot of dust in the genre in the 2010s, will lead the party.

The strong line-up also includes Electric Wizard, Witchcraft, Elder, Truckfighters and a host of others. Maybe just the right music to celebrate Fathers Day.

From May 24 to 29, Berlins Performing Arts Festival returns to multiple venues across the city.

For the seventh time, indie artists from the dance and theatre scene will present small and large stage productions at over 40 venues in the city.

The programme is as diverse as the artists themselves. A wide variety of performing arts genres such as performance art, theatre, dance, circus and childrens theatre, as well as installations, video works and audiowalks will cover current social issues with the theme togetherness.

On May 28, the Day of Open House(s), fifteen venues from the indie scene will open their doors to the public and offer a glimpse behind the scenes.

Under the name Revolting, Berghain is celebrating into Fathers Day on May 25 with a gender-fluid party at its famously anything-goes sex club Lab.oratory, which lures you into the Labyrinth on the night before Ascension Day with the dirtier edges of house music.

Expect homoerotic house from the likes of Denny Voltage, Kiwi and Snecker on the decks.

Following an extended pandemic pause, Berlins folk festivals are emerging from enforced hibernation with a spring in their step. The traditional Steglitzer Woche starts this spring on May 26 and runs until June 12.

Expect over 60 fairground rides and attractions, as well as a beer garden with live music in the pavilion. Theres also a wide range of the usual barbecued food, snacks and sweets to enjoy, but maybe have a go on one of the carnival rides before you tuck in.

After the adrenaline rush, test your skills on the coconut shy or try a spot of duck fishing. There are raffles aplenty.

On June 12, artists from the fields of music, dance, comedy, acrobatics, magic and juggling will compete for the loudest applause at the cabaret awards.

This years Brckentag will be held in Mitte on May 27. Confused? The Bridge Day street festival will be held on the Friday between the Ascension Day public holiday and the weekend, and is organised by the Alliance New Orphan Bridge initiative to remind people that there are still no concrete plans for a new bridge to replace the former Orphan Bridge, which used to connect the Klosterviertel and the Mrkisches Museum in Mitte.

In addition to historical childrens games and open-air shows, the organisers will provide extensive information about their proposals for a new bike- and pedestrian-friendly bridge. Wallstrae will be closed especially for the festival.

As Berlin emerges from its six-month perma-grey winter, theres no better way to prepare your dinner than under the sky and overcharcoal. Whether youre out with the boys or the kids, that (vegan) sausage just tastes so much better when its charred to a crisp.

Head to one of the citys designated barbecue areas from Tempelhofer Feld to Preuenpark to Monbijoupark for some communal finger-burning.

However long youve lived in Berlin, its never too late to indulge in a tourist trip along the Spree. Join the old timers in their sun hats and take in the citys historical sights from the relative comfort of a boat. Dont forget to wave enthusiastically at the stoney-faced locals.

On Ascension Day, Berlins museums and most cultural institutions are open. This is the best opportunity to visit the exhibition The Great Masters of the Renaissance, which runs until August 7 at the Parochialkirche.

Here, the world-famous paintings and frescoes of the Italian artists of the early and high Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sandro Botticelli and Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino are exhibited.

If youre into gender stereotypes, nothing says Fathers Day more than a spot of familial laser tag. With a plastic gun and a glow-in-the-dark vest, youll look a bit like the hero in a sci-fi B-movie.

In Berlin there are plenty of places you can take aim:

Put the beer down and take in some high-brow culture instead. On May 26, Vienna-trained pianist Mitsuko Uchida will be at the Pierre Boulez Hall.

She interprets the great works of Mozart, Schumann and Kurtg in her own inimitably unpretentious way, for which she is so celebrated by the music world.

Connoisseurs will appreciate that she plays against the romantic patina of some of the pieces, all others will simply enjoy great music masterpieces interpreted by a virtuoso in her field.

See the original post here:

Ascension Day bank holiday: What to do in Berlin, from BBQs to Berghain - EXBERLINER.com

A disturbingly common mishap in recent Summer Olympic games has been the failure of U.S. track and field relay teams. Individually, these teams almost always are made up of the best runners, top to bottom, of any nations relay contingent. Best times, best individual win-loss records. But great individuals do not a successful relay team make. In a relay race, each runner is required not only to run her or his lap as swiftly as possible, but also to hand the baton to the next runner smoothly and securely within a specified number of meters. As the baton falls to the track during these attempted transfers, time after time, the truth becomes crystal clear.

In the quintessential American spirit, the members of the U.S. relay teams have spent far too much time honing their individual running skills, and far too little time practicing how to be a team (if theyve practiced at all). Passing a baton while both the passer and passee are running, one decelerating and one accelerating, within a limited amount of space takes practice, practice that is not nearly as sexy or stimulating as running as fast as one can by oneself.

Baton-passing serves as an interesting analogy for many human situations, particularly generational ones that involve passing a virtual baton from the geezers to the young punks. A successful transfer requires the ability and desire to receive and run on the younger generations part and a willingness to let go and slow down from the older veterans. Debate about curriculum reform swirled around my campus for close to a decade before a new core curriculum was established several years ago. The conversations centered on a large, four semester course, described as the core of the core at my college, that is required of all freshmen and sophomores. This course was created, and then established as the heart of the colleges core curriculum in the early 1970s, a course that was groundbreaking and audacious in its day.

Many of the faculty who were the young Turks of that time, the movers and shakers who invented this course and shepherded it through the faculty senate and administration against all odds, were senior faculty on the verge of retirement during the reform debate. Others have already retired, some have died. And the course they created, which defined many of their academic careers both in the classroom and out, became stale and badly in need of fresh vision and creative reconstruction. Despite the good will of many of the next generation of faculty, highly qualified and motivated women and men who willingly seek to carry a revitalized course forward for the next few decades, the reform debate was frequently poisoned by the resistance to any meaningful change by the older generation.It has been sad to observe.

By accident of age and time served at the college I was positioned, as both one of the youngest of the older generation and one of the most experienced of the new generation, at the very point where the baton transfer should occur. As a veteran of teaching in this program and a long-standing advocate for needed change, I was eventually asked to direct the new version of this program that emerged from curriculum reform as it transitioned from the past into the future. My years as director were largely successful, in spite of some continuing resistance. As Ive told several of my senior colleagues over the past few years, its impossible to run a relay race if you wont let go of the baton.

Tomorrow is Ascension Sunday. Thirteen years ago, Ascension Sunday happened to be the seventeenth and last Sunday that I would be worshiping at St. Johns Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota on sabbatical. As I sat in my choir stall seat during seven-oclock morning prayer, then in the sanctuary later in the morning during mass, there was a certain wistfulness and a bit of emotion, but not as much as I expected. For this Ascension Sunday was an appropriate milestone in my spiritual growth, a marker of the point at which I would tentatively and with fear and trembling take what I had learned and experienced over the previous four months into all the world.

I was never taught to pay attention to Ascension Sunday in my religious tradition. But even after I was introduced to the liturgical calendar for the first time in my middle twenties, Ascension Sunday was simply the Sunday before Pentecost, after which we would slog through week after week of Ordinary Time boredom in green through the summer and fall until we were rescued by Advent purple right after Thanksgiving.But as I inhabited for the first time the psalms and New Testament texts on that Ascension Sunday, I thought Wow. Jesus was the ultimately prepared and successful baton passer.

In one way, Ascension Sunday completes the story of the Incarnation that began with Jesus birth. Jesus doesnt ascend out of his human body to heavenhe takes it with him, because the next lap of this story, the Christ in us lap, is just about ready to explode. Jesus showed extraordinary patience with his all-too-human followers during his short stay on earth, teaching them basic truths through stories and actions, all preparation for when it would be up to them to receive the baton and run their own incarnational race. The forty days after the Resurrection were all practice for a smooth passing of the baton.

Jesus kept telling them Its all right. Im not leaving you alone. Its better for you that I am leaving, because Ill be sending you the greatest teammate ever. You can do this, because Ill still be with you. When I leave, dont go crazy and start running in every direction out of fear or impatience. Wait. Pray. Youll know when its time to run. And when you do, youll turn the world upside down. And when the clouds closed on Jesus heels as he ascended into heaven, for once the men and women who had loved and followed him did what they were told. They went into an upper room in Jerusalem and waited.

Im told that the receiver of the baton in a relay race should not seek to accelerate until she or he feels the slap of the baton in the palm of the receiving hand they have extended backwards as they begin to run. The receiver never sees the runner coming up behind, but theres no mistaking the transfer from the unseen runner when it happens. And in the upper room ten days after Jesus left, there was no mistaking that the baton had been successfully transferred.

The Incarnation goes on, and we recipients of the Holy Spirit carry it to the ends of the earth. In his homily on that Ascension Sunday, the Abbott observed that with Ascension Day, the Easter message of Glory, Glory, Glory that has been front and center since Easter changes to Go!The word to me that day and ever since was Take what youve been given, what youve found, and go. As my favorite Psalm says,

Day unto day takes up the story

And night unto night makes known the message.

We are carrying the baton, and are to run as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.

More:

Passing the Baton: An Ascension Sunday Reflection - Patheos

IRVING, Texas, May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --NorthStar Anesthesia, an industry leader in providing modernized anesthesia care for nearly two decades, has announced a new partnership with Ascension Alexian Brothers in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. NorthStar transitioned to provide anesthesia care in April as part of an expansion within the regional health system.

"We are proud to expand our footprint in the region and work with another facility under the Ascension umbrella," said NorthStar CEO, Adam Spiegel. "Ascension Alexian Brothers is a top destination for complex cardiovascular and pulmonary care, as well as cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, and critical care. We are excited to partner with their teams and continue serving patients across the state of Illinois."

Ascension Alexian Brothers is a 401-bed Catholic hospital with over 900 doctors working to treat more than 18,000 patients. It's ranked among America's 50 best hospitals and has received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In a seamless transition of services, NorthStar retained the entire CRNA team and a majority of incumbent physician anesthesiologists ensuring there were no gaps in coverage as the team was fully staffed starting on day one.

"Our teams are very excited to work with NorthStar and continue their existing partnership with Ascension," said Dan Doherty, CEO of Ascension Alexian Brothers. "We pride ourselves on offering comprehensive and coordinated care that addresses each patient's unique needs, and we know NorthStar's providers will enable us to deliver the best level of care."

NorthStar will continue to grow nationally, expanding into new states and within existing regions to offer modernized anesthesia services for their hospital and ASC partners.

To learn more about NorthStar Anesthesia, visit http://www.northstaranesthesia.com.

About NorthStar Anesthesia NorthStar Anesthesia is a company of caregivers, founded by an anesthesiologist and a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). With more than 2,000 anesthesiologists and CRNAs under its banner, NorthStar partners with more than 180 health care facilities to deliver a more productive and efficient model of anesthesia care. Its "care team" approach focuses on the provision of high-quality care while measurably improving operating room performance. For more information, visit http://www.northstaranesthesia.com.

Media Contact: Simone Jackenthal Trident DMG202-923-5296[emailprotected]

SOURCE NorthStar Anesthesia

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NORTHSTAR ANESTHESIA EXPANDS WITHIN REGIONAL SYSTEM TO SERVICE ASCENSION ALEXIAN BROTHERS - PR Newswire