Fr Lunkenbein "was an all-round priest, an older brother, a simple director, a priest close to his people." So said Fr Gildasio Mendes, Provincial of Brazil-Campo Grande. "He was able to break down the Gospel and put it together again and then proclaim the message. He was close to those who were suffering, he would prophesy, and cry out for love. The only thing he understood was the reason to love and to give his life. The martyr lays down his life because he knows that this witness is the clearest way to preach the Gospel. This was Fr Rudolf’s life."
Fr Lunkenbein’s priestly motto was no mere coincidence. "I have come to serve and to give my life," a phrase that expresses "the profound conviction of his covenant of love with Christ and with the native people for whom he gave his life". Fr Rudolf was a man full of humanity and those who knew him testified to his enthusiasm for life, his spirit of solidarity, his fraternal closeness and his tireless devotion to work.
In one of his letters to his family, he wrote: "Mother: the missionary today must also be willing to sacrifice his life." And on one of his visits to his family he said: "Mother, there's nothing more beautiful than to die for God."
