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Who knows with certainty the will of God? Do we? The Catholic Church? the pope? bishops? priests? deacons? saints? mystics? seers? prophets? scholars?
The Catholic Church teaches that God's will can be determined through the Catholic bible and by tradition. We know from the Catholic bible that Jesus made Peter head of His Church. Jesus told Peter and His apostles that sins that they forgave are forgiven, and that sins that they didn't forgive aren't forgiven. What power! What responsibility.
The Catholic Church teaches that the pope is infallible when he speaks officially on faith and morals. We know from our Catholic educations that popes have only declared infallibility twice, both on matters of faith, one being that Mary was conceived without sin.
For me, discerning the will of God isn't as easy as some might have us believe. In trying to discern the will of God, I look to Scripture first.
The Catholic bible tells us that when Jesus was asked "what are the greatest commandments?" that He responded that there are two: love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Clear. Concise. Unambiguous. Because I know that Jesus is God, I KNOW that this is God's will. In the gospels Jesus speaks clearly and unambiguously on a number of issues--money, hypocrisy, adultery, feeding the hungry, taking care of the poor, etc. I KNOW the will of God on many issues from Scripture, because, God, Jesus, told us His will, clearly and unambiguously.
While Jesus speaks to us directly in Scripture on many faith and morals issues, He doesn't speak in Scripture to every faith and moral issue that arises--celibacy for priests, for example. Peter, Jesus' successor, was married; but, the Catholic Church says that it's God's will that priests be celibate. However, the Catholic Church hasn't declared its teaching on celibacy as infallible. So, is the Catholic Church CERTAIN that celibacy is the will of God? For me personally, I'm a LOT more comfortable saying that feeding the hungry is the will of God than I am saying that celibacy for priests is the will of God. Jesus told us clearly and unambiguously to feed the hungry, while He doesn't speak directly to us in Scripture concerning celibacy for priests.
I'm comfortable in saying that respect for the Eucharist is the will of God. The gospels tell us quite clearly of Jesus' love for the temple in Jerusalem. Ask Christians when Jesus was angry, and most will say when he drove the moneychangers out because they were desecrating the temple.
While Fatima is neither in the Catholic bible nor in dogmas of the Catholic Church, I believe that apparitions occurred there. I believe that an angel appeared to the children, before Mary appeared to them, and gave them this prayer:
"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners."
I believe that as Catholics we have a GREAT responsibility to the Eucharist which the Catholic bible tells us that Jesus gave to us, and, by Jesus' own words, tells us that the Euchrist is His Body and Blood. Our responsibility to the Eucharist includes preserving and protecting the sanctuaries of our churches from the "indifference, sacrileges, and outrages" that the angel referred to, and make them respectful, prayerful places conducive to worshiping God. Our responsibility to do so is based on Jesus' own actions, recorded in the Catholic bible, that show His great love for His Father's house.
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