He finished his novitiate at the De La Salle Retreat House in Baguio on November 20, 1955, and made his initial vows the year after.

[1] He studied at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, a Christian Brother-run college in Winona and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the top of his class at the age of 19.

[1] He returned to the Philippines in 1960 and began teaching English Language and Literature at the high school department of La Salle College in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.

[1] Gonzalez returned to the Philippines in 1971 where he was chosen to become the chairman of the Humanities Department of De La Salle College and was promoted to Academic Vice President from 1971 to 1978.

In recognition of his exceptional management ability, he was elected as the president of De La Salle University by the board of trustees in 1979 and served until 1991.

He was appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports during the term of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in July 1998 and served until January 2001.

[1] In recognition of Gonzalez's achievements, he received awards from the City of Manila, National Press Club, Adamson University and from San Beda College.

De La Salle University-Manila granted him the title of President Emeritus on September 28, 2005, and DLSU-Manila's new state-of-the-art 20-storey General Education Building was named the Br.