Choose a topic from Part 2A:

15. Consent

1. Consent is the will-act of accepting the means (chosen under counsel) to attain an end.

2. Consent, like all will-acts, is found in man alone among earthly creatures.

3. Like choice, consent is a will-act that concerns the means to an end, not the end itself.

4. Consent is the final decision of the enlightened and counseled will to take up the means required for attaining an end. Sometimes consent is called an act of reason. Now, reason is, strictly speaking, the thinking mind, the intellect using discursive thought. But reason is a term often used for the whole intellective equipment of man, that is for intellect and will. Consent is, in itself, an act proper to the will. But since the will gives consent to the judgment of the thinking mind which counsels it, consent is often called an act of reason. Here reason means the intellectually enlightened and counseled will.

"The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things, prosperous or adverse. In prosperity, even sinners find it easy to unite themselves to the divine will; but it takes saints to unite themselves to God's will when things go wrong and are painful to self-love. Our conduct in such instances is the measure of our love of God."
St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life eases the mind and a clean conscience inspires great trust in God."
Thomas á Kempis

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"A man should keep himself down, and not busy himself in mirabilibus super se."
St Philip Neri

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