"The man was filled with God"

As Archbishop Harry J. Flynn concluded the Mass of Christian Burial for Bishop Raymond A. Lucker, he shared with the congregation an experience that seemed to define the life and spirit of Raymond Lucker. In August, Archbishop Flynn and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, J.C.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, were paying a visit to Bishop Lucker at the cancer hospice before traveling on to the Installation ceremonies for the new Bishop of New Ulm, John Nienstedt. During this visit Bishop Lucker commented that he was just "sitting here and letting Jesus love me." Upon leaving the room after their visit, they turned to look at Bishop Lucker with closed eyes, whispering over and over, "come Jesus, come Jesus, come Jesus." Montalvo responded to Archbishop Flynn, "The man is filled with God."

Others, throughout the three days of funeral services shared their personal experiences about Bishop Lucker.

Father Germain Rademacher, pastor of St. Catherine, Redwood Falls offered an evening prayer reflection, recalling that Bishop Lucker continually made connections between what he learned and experienced as family and how he was pastor and shepherd. "His deep and simple faith comes to mind. A faith so evident as he offered the Eucharist so many times in our small communities of rural New Ulm. He walked with Jesus in his personal prayer and studies. He taught me not to be embarrassed to use the name of Jesus in public".

Father George Schmit, pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New Ulm, also reflected on Lucker’s deep love of the church. "As a teacher he taught me to have a deep love for the church; a great respect for her teaching and traditions. It was that deep love for the church that caused him to ask the hard questions of the church at times. He did it not to be disloyal or unfaithful, even though at times he was labeled as such. He did it because of his deep love for the church and to make the church vibrant and healthy for all her faithful members." Father Schmit continued, "He taught me that all of us - baptized members of the church - have gifts to use in building up the Kingdom of God here on earth. . . He modeled a collaborative style of administering as pastor and would often quote the Gospel of Matthew, ‘Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. So it is with the Son of man who has come, not to be served by others, but to serve. . .’