Today’s readings sketch profiles of individuals after whom we can model our lives as we embark on our pilgrimage to messianic fulfilment. Isaiah depicts the righteous messianic king; Paul provides us with a glimpse of Jesus, the one who ministers to all; and Matthew describes John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared for the Advent of Christ. The gifts Isaiah attributes to the messianic king are the same gifts that we receive with the anointing of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. The image of the messianic king may have been fulfilled in Jesus, but it is also offered to us as a model after which we can pattern our lives. John the Baptist lived a life of radical self-denial, but he did not require this of others. He preached repentance or change of heart, not a rejection of the circumstances of life. He called for a return to righteousness, to relationships rooted in honesty and respect. He condemned presumption and arrogant reliance on one’s religious origin, complacency and the shirking of responsibility, disinterest in the welfare of others