“At the name of Jesus every knee should bend,” says the Palm Sunday reading from the Letter to the Philippians. The weight of the mounting national debt threatens to bring the United States to its knees, financially speaking. Fresh off last week’s budget showdown . . .

The cloak was common apparel in Jesus’ age and plays a role in his entrance into Jerusalem described in this Sunday’s reading at the procession with palms and in the Passion story from the Gospel of Matthew. A controversial French ban outlawing full-face veils in public . . .

The long version of the gospel this Palm Sunday features bribery, deceit, and intrigue in the Sanhedrin among those plotting Jesus’ death. The Showtime network bills its new eight-week drama The Borgias as a “sordid tale” of corruption in the Vatican . . .

In the “Servant of the Lord” oracle featured in this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Isaiah, the prophet obediently accepts criticism and rebuff, trusting that he will not be disgraced in doing so. Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal accepted criticism . . .

“For the first time in history, Congress is removing a species . . . from the Endangered Species Act based on political, rather than biological, judgments.”

A team of mountaineers and a Sherpa guide have begun removing 11,000 pounds of garbage, empty bottles, oxygen cannisters, and abandoned tents and ropes from the slopes of Mt. Everest.