March 29, 2006, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Beth Vaj on the Mount of Olives,

Jesus sent two disciples saying to them,

Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find

an ass tethered, an occult with her. Untie them, and bring them here to me. And if anyone

should say anything to you, reply, the master has need of them. Then he will send them at once.

This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. Say to

daughter Zion, behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the

full of a beast of burden. The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the

ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,

and he sat upon them. The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees and strew them on the road. The crowds preceding him,

and those following, kept crying out and saying, Hosanna to the son of David,

Blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken

and asked, who is this? And the crowds replied, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

The Gospel of the Lord

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah

The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue

that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.

Morning after morning, he opens my ear that I may hear,

...