Sister Paula Gonzalez is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and the founder of EarthConnection. She was recently featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer in the article Nun marries science, spirituality: Teaches that all life is sacred and connected by Shauna Steigerwald (July 11, 2010).

A few of my favorite quotes from the article …

On vocation:

… the daughter of two teachers was “a curious little kid” who learned to read at an early age, skipped first grade and was bumped from third grade to fourth, finishing that grade level when she was only 7. She came to the College of Mount St. Joseph on an academic scholarship in 1948, graduating with a bachelor’s in biology in 1952 at age 19. But even at that young age, Gonzalez knew that her life’s calling lay in religious service. She entered the Sisters of Charity two years later, in 1954.

“It just hit me like a ton of bricks, and that was it,” she said. “All of a sudden, I knew.”

On care for God’s creation:

Much of Gonzalez’s reverence for the natural world was instilled by her father, who was raised on a farm and taught his own family to grow food. From his Spanish heritage, he taught her the concept of “La tierra es bendita,” “the land is holy.”

“My father was truly a person of the soil, which got through to me,” said Gonzalez, who calls her own garden her “spiritual director” and cites her spirituality as another contributor to her concern for the planet.

What do you think of the article? What are ways that you recognize “all life is sacred and connected”?

* * *

Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

Please consider offering a donation to A Nun’s Life for our continued ministry. See the blog post We need your help.

Earth Day Reflections by Sister Mary McCann, IHM

Earth Day Prayer Service by the Sisters of the Holy Family

Faithful Stewards of God’s Creation by the US Catholic Bishops

Prayers celebrating God’s Creation by the US Catholic Bishops

Earth Day Catholic e-Greetings Cards

How Earth Day became … so everyday