Pres. Monson and Mother Teresa: A Shared Heart for Service and Love

Pres. Monson spoke at the women's general meeting in 2010 and said something that cut right to the heart of our natural tendency, even in the Church, to categorize and divide each other based on visible differences.  In doing so, he quoted from Mother Teresa - someone I consider to be a true modern-day saint and hero. 

Since his remarks were delivered to the women of the Church and not heard directly by the men, and since his words apply to the men as well as to the women, I want to excerpt the part that struck me as the most profound.  The highlighting and bolding is my own. 

"My dear sisters, each of you is unique. You are different from each other in many ways. There are those of you who are married. Some of you stay at home with your children, while others of you work outside your homes. Some of you are empty-nesters. There are those of you who are married but do not have children. There are those who are divorced, those who are widowed. Many of you are single women. Some of you have college degrees; some of you do not. There are those who can afford the latest fashions and those who are lucky to have one appropriate Sunday outfit. Such differences are almost endless. Do these differences tempt us to judge one another?

Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who worked among the poor in India most of her life, spoke this profound truth: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” The Savior has admonished, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” I ask:

Can we love one another, as the Savior has commanded, if we judge each other? And I answer - with Mother Teresa - “No; we cannot.”