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Moreover, when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces so that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Anoint your head
"When you fast." Not if. Jesus assumed it, the way he assumed prayer and giving. What he corrected was the performance rather than the practice: the drawn face, the visible suffering that turns hunger into theater. Instead: oil on your head, water on your face. Look like a person at a feast.
A fast that nobody knows about cannot be a source of pride. It has only one purpose left, which is the real one: to make room. Empty the stomach, quiet the mind, and find that the emptiness is a space rather than a lack, and that something comes to fill it.
Practice
On your next fast day, tell no one. Dress well. Be more cheerful than usual. Let the secret be between you and the one who sees.
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