The Lord gave man freedom of will for the doing of good, for drawing near to the truth, for creating what is beautiful. But this our freedom of will does not at all speak of an absence of will, of a lack of will, of volitional paralysis and of apathy. If man is given freedom to choose, he ought, nevertheless, to know what he wants, to what his will ought to be directed. Freedom of human will ought not at all lead him to immorality, to unconcern, to ugliness, to dissipation. Having decided what is good and what is bad, man ought to use his will for doing what is good, that which would lead him to God.
Man is called to creativity in good, to spiritual activity, to the building of the City of God.
The discipline of church fasting, just as every discipline, is beneficial to joint life, to the bridling of human self-will, which is too isolated in itself. Man needs to conform his will to the Church's will. It is useful to each of us to know what the whole Church wants. It is useful to me to fast when and how the Church prescribes it. In this is the aspect of the idea of Christian collectivity.