JUDGE MICHAEL T. JOYCE
CEREMONY OF THE OATH
JANUARY 2, 1998
ERIE COUNTY COURT HOUSE
OPENING:
Good morning. What a glorious day in Erie for more reasons than one. The days and evenings of early January overflow with Ceremonies of the Oath as officials in every town hall and courthouse across the Commonwealth take the oath of office. Hundreds, perhaps thousands do so. Each one distinctive and each one bright with shared happiness by family and friends. We Judges who administer the oath to individuals, who have opted to serve their citizenry in government, are witnesses to and flourish upon that happiness and joy and those great moments.
This morning we are not only witness to the bright moments, we deeply share as full participants in the happiness and joy, for the oath which Mike Joyce takes will make him one of us, our associate, our colleague, and our friend.
The Ceremony of the Oath for which we gather is, by definition, a most solemn occasion, a most reverent event, since the oath to be taken rises above any contract, goes far beyond commitment, for the Ceremony of the Oath is a solemn pronouncement of a covenant which summons the Almighty to witness the profession of the oath by Mike to serve the citizenry of the Commonwealth. The Ceremony of the Oath is, as well, a moment of passage, for it is a solemn promise to perform new duties with dedication, to confront new challenges with determination and to continue to serve the justice system of the Commonwealth with zeal.
And so we welcome all of the family and friends of Judge Michael T. Joyce, and the Bar and Bench of this monumental historical county, as we call for the Ceremony of the Oath to commence and ask the Reverend William Sutherland, Pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, to lead us in the invocation, and if you will all rise.