97. It is a common saying, that everyone is his own neighbor; that is, that everyone should first consider himself; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood. Everyone should provide for himself the necessaries of life, such as food, raiment, habitation, and many other things which the state of civil life, in which he is, necessarily requires, and this not only for himself, but also for his own, and not only for the present time, but also for the future; for unless a man procures for himself the necessaries of life, he cannot be in a state to exercise charity, for he is in want of all things.
