“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.” On this last Sunday of the Church Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King (of the universe). It is an appropriate feast for concluding the liturgical calendar, for it reminds us, among other things, that Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the world, is the beginning and end, the alpha and the omega of all that we do. Jesus Christ is the beginning and end of our existence. To say that Christ is the King denotes that he has a kingdom, and appropriately, each one of today’s readings is filled with “kingly” language. The readings depict both the enthronement and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah-king. While we know that while he walked the earth Jesus refused to be identified as a king, in our gospel reading today, Jesus reveals to us that he indeed has a kingdom. However, he says that his kingdom is not of this world! And so as we celebrate the feast of Christ the king, the question that we must ask ourselves is this: what do we mean when we say Jesus is king?
When we talk of a king, the picture that comes to our mind is pomp and glamour, wealth, majesty and lordship. When the people of Israel wanted a king, the Lord God warned them through the prophet Samuel that a king would lord it over them by taking for himself their wives, sons and daughters, best lands and choice portions of their harvests (cf. I Samuel 8:1ff). And to a larger extent, this is still what kings (presidents, prime ministers) do. However, when we speak of Jesus as King, we don’t associate him with pomp, glamour, majesty and lordship. Rather, we speak of service and humility. Jesus is a different kind of king. He is a king who does not lord it over his subjects. He is a king who is like his subjects and prefers to identify with them. Our first reading calls him Son of Man. In the course of his ministry, Jesus referred to himself as Son of Man. Son of Man is a title that could only be applied to Jesus. It is a title that has double meaning: it sets Jesus apart from us even as it makes him one of us. It means that Jesus, while remaining human, is much more than a human person. Jesus had to be both like and unlike us if his kingship had to have meaning. This leads us to our next question: of what does Jesus’ kingship consist? 
We have seen that Jesus is not a king who lords it over his subjects. He is a king who serves his subjects. There is no greater service that the universe needs than redemption: drawing all things back to God. Jesus’ kingship consists in the drawing of all things back to his Father. And this is why God assumed the human nature in Jesus Christ. This salvation that the universe required could not come from just any human being, from any creature, however prestigious. Salvation could only come from God, but God made human. Jesus as Son of Man is a human being, yes, but a human being who has an absolutely unique relationship with God, one who is entrusted with an incomparable mission and unequaled power. As we read in the Psalm,  he is robed in majesty and girded with strength.Jesus Christ is king, not only because we are his subjects or because he has dominion and power over the universe. Jesus Christ is king because he is the source and origin of all that is.  He has established the world. Every created reality owes its existence to him (cf. John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). 
We celebrate the kingship of Jesus Christ because of the implication it has for us. Unlike the kings of this world, Jesus is a King who allows his subjects to be co-rulers with him. As his brothers and sisters, we are called to reign with Jesus the king. As co-rulers with Jesus, it is our responsibility to help the king in his salvific mission of leading creation back to God. We get to accomplish this when we take seriously our responsibility as stewards of the created universe. May we strive to help Jesus the king in building his kingdom.