On Wednesday, January 10, 1996, Lucindo Suarez was inducted as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Bishop Francisco Garmendia gave the Invocation and Opening Address, speaking about his long friendship with Justice Suarez, and stressing importance of Natural Law in the realm of Justice.
Judge Lucindo Suarez
by Most Rev. Francisco Garmendia
Today is Lucindo Suarez’s Day. It is the day of his Judicial Induction to the Supreme Court of the State of New York. It is also a great honor and satisfaction for me to give this invocation.
The name Lucindo tells us that our dear Judge will be committed to be what his name Lucindo means: a light. I have known Judge Suarez for many years. I officiated at his marriage to Hilda at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in the Bronx. I knew then that their future would be an excellent one. They have two beautiful daughters, Roslyn, whom I baptized, and Roxanne.
As Isaiah was chosen by God, so too, Lucindo has been chosen by God to bring justice to the people of the State of New York. It is no small matter to be chosen. This commission or call to service requires a sense of personal obligation, a sense of public trust on the part of the elected official which gives meaning and dignity to his public life.
Lucindo, this call to service exhorts you to dedicate yourself to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers. A wisdom which proclaims God’s rightful place in human affairs, a wisdom so memorably expressed by the Father of our Country in his Farewell Address: “Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports; reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national or state morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”
Judge Lucindo Suarez, you will be dealing with the application of the Natural Law, which is written and engraved in each and every human being, because it is human reason ordaining them to do good and forbidding them to sin. But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not for the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.
The Natural Law, the Creator’s very good work provides the solid foundation on which human beings can build the structure of moral values to guide their right choices. The Natural Law that you will be providing will give the necessary basis for the Civil Law with which it is connected whether by reflection that draws conclusions from its principles or by addition of a positive and juridical nature.
Where then are these rules written, if not in the Book of that Light we call the Truth? In it is written every just law; from it the law passes into the heart of the man who does justice, not that it migrates into it, but that it places its imprint on it, like a seal in a ring that passes onto wax, without leaving the ring.
The Natural Law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God; through it we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God has given this Light or Law at the Creation.
Dear Lord, we pray that Judge Lucindo Suarez will provide courageous leadership in his new position as a Justice of the State of New York. May he follow the example of Jesus in giving special concern for the poor, and may all his actions be guided by a deep love of God and neighbor.
I wish you, Judge Suarez all the blessings of God and the love of our Blessed Mother.