Lent reminds us of the necessity of fasting, not only for our own conversion, but also the conversion of the world. Papal preacher Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa listed several biblical examples of fasting in a homily from 2003.

He explained how, “We find two kinds of fasting in the Bible: the ascetic fast and the prophetic fast, fasting as a rite and fasting as an event.“

It is this second type of fasting that is related to a more communal act of fasting.

However, the prophetic fast or fast as an event has greater prominence in the Bible. Moses fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before receiving the tables of the law (Ex 34:28), Elijah fasted before meeting God on Mount Horeb (1 Kgs 19:8), and Jesus, before beginning his ministry. The King of Nineveh orders such a fast in response to Jonah’s preaching (Jon 3:7ff). … This type of fast is intended as a community expression of the desire for conversion … As in the times of Joel and Jonah, the call today is for repentance, for the admission of being in the wrong, for a collective “return” to God.

Read more at Aleteia