Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.” In Part Two of Theology of the Body (TOB), Pope St. John Paul II focuses on the Sacrament of Marriage and sexual ethics. A large portion of this material is inspired …

While reflecting on vocations, my imagination kept landing on my favorite lines from The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. They’re from a conversation between Frodo, a small hobbit, and Gandalf, a wise, old wizard, in the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf is explaining a …