The Principle of Social Proof notes that we humans are greatly influenced by the actions of others. The more of us who believe a thing to be true—or act as though a thing is true—the truer that thing becomes.  

We see this in public moments: There’s a car crash at a busy intersection, but nobody stops to help. More and more people pass by because they see more and more people pass by. There is an unspoken belief that somebody else has already called for the ambulance. So, I don’t need to—the classic bystander effect.  

We see the same throughline in many of our social interactions: No one is smiling on the subway, so we keep our head down. Everyone in the room is on their phone, so we don’t dare strike up conversation. And so on. The status quo persists.  

Jesus has little time for this status quo in today’s Gospel. Simon has shown minimal hospitality. We can only assume that the majority of guests—guests from that same status quo world—follow suit. What a paltry, cold party!  

Our heroine shows no shortage of courage. Imagine the strength of character required to dial 911, to strike up conversation with strangers, to smile in a room full of gloom— and this woman bathed Jesus’ feet in her tears! She refused to go along with the crowd; she pushed against the status quo. Radical love demands that we not look simply at what everyone else is doing. It demands we gaze at Christ.