Search
-
October 12, 2025Born in New York City, Sister Barbara Muldoon’s life took an early turn when her Irish immigrant parents moved the family to a quiet village about 25 miles west of Newburgh. She stood out in school as the only child with immigrant parents.
Barbara’s first encounter with Ireland came the summer before she entered religious life — a trip that deepened her connection to her heritage. She remains close to relatives there and cherishes the visits where both her family and her faith converge.
Her journey to faith wasn’t straightforward. Catholic school had shaped her, but the idea of becoming a sister never crossed her mind until her senior year of high school. On a quiet retreat, a thought blossomed: Maybe God is calling me to be a Presentation sister. At first, Barbara kept it to herself, unsure and hesitant. But a conversation with a sister before graduation changed everything. “If God is calling you, you have to answer,” she was told. “You can’t just put it off.”
Before long, Barbara found herself visiting Mount St. Joseph to speak with the superior. Accepted into the convent, she kept her decision quiet at first. But from her very first day, she knew she had found her place. “I didn’t feel homesick. I felt at home,” she recalls. Her Irish Catholic parents, though surprised, embraced her choice with heartfelt joy.
Even then, Barbara knew her calling was to education. “Since elementary school, I wanted to be a teacher,” she says, her voice warm with certainty.
Barbara’s formation began during one of the most transformative eras in modern Catholic history—Vatican II. “Sister Barbara King and I were very independent in our formation,” she remembers. “There was so much change happening. It made us stronger.” She recalls the excitement of Vatican II: priests facing the people, receiving the Eucharist by hand and the emerging role of laypeople. “It brought new hope,” she reflects.
She found deep joy in the classroom. After several years teaching in New Jersey, New York and Louisiana at the elementary and junior high levels, she shares that her favorite teaching experience was at St. Michael’s High School in Manhattan, citing particularly the school spirit among faculty and students.
Barbara’s mission expanded beyond school walls. She served as ministry coordinator and as part of the congregation’s leadership team—roles that brought her into contact with sisters across ministries. “This put me in touch with a lot of sisters I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” she says. “I learned so much from their ministry experiences and gained so many connections.”
Then, at St. Rita's Center for Immigrant and Refugee Services, a part of the Tolentine-Zeiser Community Life Center in the Bronx, she experienced ministry in a new way. “I found that a very wonderful experience. It put me in touch with people from different parts of the world. We didn’t always share a language,” she says, “but people knew we were there to help. That connection transcended words.”
Her ministry shaped her understanding of faith. “The most meaningful experiences were when those I served changed me as much as I hoped to change life for them,” she says.
Her years of service prepared her for a pivotal role in the 1990s, when the Fitchburg, Mass., and Newburgh, N.Y., congregations united as the New Windsor congregation. “We had to learn each other’s cultures,” Barbara recalls. “We had misunderstandings, but sometimes friction brings grace and deeper understanding.”
Looking back, Barbara speaks with gratitude. “Religious life has been deeply rewarding. My sisters’ faith sustains me, and my relationship with God continues to grow.”
After her time in leadership, Barbara continued to serve refugees and took on the role of communications director for the congregation. Today, after knee surgeries, she lives in a nursing home but remains a ministry presence to those around her, offering kindness, listening and prayer. She enjoys reading on her Kindle and exploring art, a quiet continuation of a life shaped by service, faith, and love.
