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Fr. Ron Gonzales refers to himself as a “cradle Catholic from the womb to the tomb.” His parents brought him up in the faith and sent him to Catholic school for all but his fifth and sixth grade years. But it wasn’t until his days at De La Salle Christian High School that he began thinking of becoming a priest. After joining a formation house in New Orleans, in which he got a feel for the life of a Christian Brother for two years, he went on to college at Loyola University, graduating in 1989 with degrees in religious studies and secondary education. Fast forward nearly two decades, and Fr. Gonzales is currently finishing up the final stage, or tertianship, of his Jesuit formation at Our Lady of the Sioux, St. Bernard, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Churches. The goal, he explains, of this final stage is “to apply myself in the school of the heart, to achieve greater humility, abnegation of all sensual love, will and judgment of my own.” The road leading to today was often challenging though. After taking a teaching job at a Catholic high school in Montgomery, Alabama, after college, where he taught for three years, he attended a Jesuit Discernment Retreat, which is designed to help individuals determine if they are being called to a religious vocation. It was after this retreat that he decided to become a Novice in the Jesuit Novitiate in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. Born in California to “a hard working woman with many mouths to feed,” destiny first touched Fr. Gonzales two days into his life: Alfonso and Cora Gonzales adopted him, and two years later, did the same with his biological sister. The son of a warehouse foreman and a homemaker, “my parents were salt of the earth,” he says. As a child, he noticed that sometimes his friends and classmates had nicer things: homes, clothes, exciting vacations to places like Disneyland. But with age, he realized that perhaps material wealth lacked what he had: humble, loving parents. Today, his family remains at the center of who he is, and the person he is still becoming. Meet Fr. Gonzales on the street and you’ll find a “regular guy” who enjoys movies, exercise and the beach. But get to know him, and you’ll understand how special he is. He can coax a young child out of tears and into laughter. He sees adversity as a way to grow. And, he believes he is always led in the direction God wants him to go. Fr. Gonzales, is nearing the end of his formation process as a Jesuit Priest, but his spiritual journey as a “cradle Catholic” will go on. Shannon Grooms is a member of Our Lady of the Sioux Church. She taught Religion at Red Cloud Elementary School for four years until the birth of ther daughter. Shannon, her husband, and her daughter live on a ranch nine miles north of Oglala, SD. Join us in our mission of educating the mind and spirit of the Lakota people, now and for future generations. Please consider an online gift. |
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Parish News: Profile on "Cradle Catholic"