be according to the order of justice.
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THIRD ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 31, Art. 3]

Whether We Ought to Do Good to Those Rather Who Are More Closely
United to Us?

Objection 1: It would seem that we are not bound to do good to those
rather who are more closely united to us. For it is written (Luke
14:12): "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends,
nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen." Now these are the most closely
united to us. Therefore we are not bound to do good to those rather
who are more closely united to us, but preferably to strangers and to
those who are in want: hence the text goes on: "But, when thou makest
a feast, call the poor, the maimed," etc.

Obj. 2: Further, to help another in the battle is an act of very
great goodness. But a soldier on the battlefield is bound to help a
fellow-soldier who is a stranger rather than a kinsman who is a foe.
Therefore in doing acts of kindness we are not bound to give the
preference to those who are most closely united to us.

Obj. 3: Further, we should pay what is due before conferring
gratuitous favors. But it is a man's duty to be good to those who
have been good to him. Therefore we ought to do good to our
benefactors rather than to those who are closely united to us.

Obj. 4: Further, a man ought to love his parents more than his
children, as stated above (Q. 26, A. 9). Yet a man ought to be more
beneficent to his children, since "neither ought the children to lay
up for the parents," according to 2 Cor. 12:14. Therefore we are not
bound to be more beneficent to those who are more closely united to
us.

_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. i, 28): "Since
one cannot do good to all, we ought to consider those chiefly who by
reason of place, time or any other circumstance, by a kind of chance
are more closely united to us."

_I answer that,_ Grace and virtue imitate the order of nature, which
is established by Divine wisdom. Now the order of nature is such that
every natural agent pours forth its activity first and most of all on
the things which are nearest to it: thus fire heats most what is next
to it. In like manner God pours forth the gifts of His goodness first
and most plentifully on the substances which are nearest to Him, as
Dionysius declares (Coel. Hier. vii). But the bestowal of benefits is
an act of charity towards others. Therefore we ought to be most
beneficent towards those who are most clo