The Homily for Bowie Kuhn's Funeral Mass

by Father John McCloskey

"There was not a moment when I was with him that I felt like being anywhere else."
- Former Senator Rick Santorum

We are here as Bowie's friends and family to show our love and respect for him and most importantly to pray for the eternal rest of his soul in the greatest act of divine worship of the Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are here not to canonize our dear friend but rather to pray that he, if need be, be freed from Purgatory to enjoy the Divine Presence with so many friends and family members who have preceded him. There will some time for some remarks by friends and family members and remembrances at the reception afterwards. I know however, that his greatest desire from the eternal life that he has entered into is that we pray for his soul and that our consideration of his eventful and fruitful life will bring us deeper into appreciation of God's love and mercy.

The days of men are short, we are told in a reading from Job that was particularly chosen by Bowie for his funeral Mass. Bowie realized this truth and never wasted an opportunity do good right up to the end of his life five days ago. As many of us here can testify, the 20-some years after he left his job as Commissioner of Major League Baseball could justifiably have been spent playing golf at Sawgrass and simply enjoying his friends and family. Instead they were filled with innumerable charitable activities, not only of a strictly philanthropic sort but also of what we Catholics refer to as the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. By far the greater number of these were unknown to the outside world.

His passionate defense of the dignity of the human person from conception until natural death was not simply a faith-based belief but was put into action over the course of several years, in weekly visits to dying AIDS patients in New York City, and more recently here in Ponte Vedra, and in his weekly visits to a nursing home where many of the people he visited were younger than himself. He saw the face of Christ in each person he visited. As a Knight of Malta, accompanied by his wife, Luisa, he accompanied "les malades" for many years on an annual visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, where they would bathe the sick people in the miraculous waters in hope of a cure.

Nothing separated him "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, Our Lord." (Rom 8: 31-35, 37-39). Bowie's priority was his spiritual life, lived out on a daily basis: in prayer, meditation on the life of Christ while praying the Rosary, his daily reading of Scripture, daily Mass and Holy Communion, and frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance. Bowie knew himself to be, like all of us, a sinner, and struggled mightily against his faults and weakness through regular examination of conscience. This love of God and Church overflowed into a wonderful apostolate through his many relationships. One of the most fruitful of theses apostolates began over 25 years ago, when he helped organize a yearly 4-day silent retreat for leaders conducted by the Prelature of Opus Dei, which was open to Catholics, non-Catholics, and even non-Christians. Out of these annual retreats came many conversions, reconciliations, and even vocations, and above all a drawing near to the Lord by the participants, many of whom returned year after year, bringing new friends.

"Let not your hearts be troubled..." The Lord whom he loved so much finally came for Bowie at the Mayo Clinic in Ponte Vedra on March 15th, 2007 after 80 years of self-giving, some of which were not without serious trials and tribulations, including ridicule, rejection, and serious financial problems. I know that in the last months of his life he was reading books on the Four Last Things: Death and Judgment, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory preparing himself for the inevitable and the desired leap into eternal life. Perhaps he was preparing his case for the Particular Judgment that took place instantaneously after his Death. We pray that he was waved home not because of an error but rather because his life was a grand slam. Heaven is to enjoy the vision of God, to see Him face-to-face, to enjoy the perpetual now of unending happiness and pleasures greater than anything possibly experienced on earth. Heaven was his goal in this life, as it should be ours.

I will close by mentioning, perhaps, Bowie's characteristic gift – friendship. When I notified many of the men who shared our annual retreat of his death, one wrote back immediately to say something I believe we would all agree with: "There was not a moment when I was with him that I felt like being anywhere else." Bowie had literally hundreds of friends from all levels of society. People felt his genuine warmth and affection that only grew as the decades rolled on. This was the most important aspect of his life "hidden with Christ in God."

This gift grew out of his own friendship with Jesus that he shared with so many others. We all remain his friends as we pray that his soul may rest in peace. We are confident that we can continue to talk with him and ask his help for our own needs and intentions until the time comes for us to join him.

Bowie loved baseball in part because of its timeless quality. A baseball game finishes when it finishes. There is no time clock. For him, and perhaps many of us, a good baseball game watched outside on a warm summer afternoon is a foretaste of heaven.

Bowie's life is now eternal in the consoling teaching of the Communion of Saints that we believe. We will see him again.

Bowie had a strong devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, visiting her shrines from Lourdes in France to the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in his native Washington, DC, and even to Ephesus where Mary lived many years after her Son's Ascension and before her own Assumption into heaven. So it was fitting that in his last years he spent much time in helping to develop the Ave Maria Law School and University.

Holy Mary, pray for Bowie, pray for us.