​"Whatever difficulties and trials you face, I ask you, like Saint Peter, to be at peace and to respond to them as Christ did: he thanked the Father, took up his cross and looked forward!" -- Pope Francis, ​​homily at St. Patrick's Cathedral, September 24, 2015 ​​With Pope Francis here in Philadelphia on a historic visit, I simply ask that we pray for a safe and holy weekend in our city of brotherly love. May the reason for his visit -- the World Meeting of Families -- renew

"O you shunn'd persons, I at least do not shun you, I come forthwith in your midst, I will be your poet, I will be more to you than to any of the rest." -- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Children of Adam, Native Moments​ ​​Hail to the misfits, to the imperfect, to the sinners, to those who are judged by the haughty and self-righteous. Cheers to the poor and ignored, to those on the periphery of society, to the dissed and the disabled, to the everyday working-people, busting t

"You cannot control what you love." -- The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene, p. 36​ Plus, if you truly love someone, why would you want to control them? To control someone necessarily means that you're exerting your wishes or demands upon them; if they were willing to go along with you in the first place, then you wouldn't be controlling them, it would just be a mutually agreeable decision. The antithesis of love vs. control also calls to mind the saying: "if you love some

"If you break little promises you'll break big ones." -- The Road, Cormac McCarthy​, p. 34 ​There may be perhaps no bigger promise in civil society than the vows of marriage. Yet people break that big promise all the time. If that wasn't true, I'd have a lot less work to do as a family law attorney. The truth is, it's sad that so many people divorce, since at its simplest root it represents people breaking their promise to one another. If I could give advice to people on t

​​​​"Thank you! Yes, you!!!" -- F. Tighe Burns, Esquire ​​​​​​​​​​ This is a special mid-week edition to mark a very special occasion: the 1-year anniversary of the Law Office of F. Tighe Burns, Esquire! On this date last year began the fulfillment (or better put, the first step toward the fulfillment) of a dream: the establishment of my own law practice, built around principles of professionalism, respect for all other people in all facets of the legal process, high-qualit