Sr. Carrie Elizabeth Flood, IHM
“Whatsoever You Do”
When I was a young child, we often sang a song at Mass called "Whatsoever You Do". Maybe you know it. When I consider my vocation to religious life, I believe it began with that song. It seemed clear to me that I was to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the prisoner, etc., just like in the song. Being a "public schooler" I didn't have any contact with sisters and didn't connect this call to service to a call to religious life until much later.
After I graduated from college I decided to do some volunteer work until I figured out what to do with my life. As luck and God would have it, I wound up living with the IHM Sisters in Scranton and volunteering as a nurses' aide in their home for retired sisters. It was a truly wonderful experience and gave me the opportunity to participate in the lives of the sisters. Many sisters thought I would enter the congregation at that time, but I didn't have the sense that God was calling me to religious life, so after the volunteer program ended, I returned to my home state of Arizona and began living my "real" life. It seemed that religious life wasn't what God had in mind for me.
But the tugging at my heart that began so long ago with "Whatsoever You Do" didn't go away. After several years I began to wonder whether it was a matter of timing. I had assumed that "not now" after my volunteer program ended meant "not ever", but I began to question this. Maybe God had delayed that sense of call until I was ready, until I had had a chance to live independently and to grow personally, spiritually and professionally. I began to consider seriously whether God might be calling me now to explore religious life, and so I reconnected with the IHM Sisters. Through the discernment process I learned to become more aware of the movements of God in my heart. I realized that "not now" had become "yes, now" and so I entered the congregation.
In my ministries in healthcare I don't directly feed the hungry or give drink to the thirsty, but my prayer and my hope are that my presence witnesses to God's living and loving presence in the world. I try to remind myself often that "whatsoever I do", no matter how small or insignificant, for any of God's people, I am doing it to build up the kingdom of God.
Sister Carrie currently serves as a Manager for Healthcare Product Consulting at Cognizant in Jessup, PA.
Pictured L - R: Sisters Carrie and Ellen Maroney, IHM
Congregation President at Sister Carrie's final profession of vows, October 4, 2014.
