Six Degrees of Separation

There’s a theory called Six Degrees of Separation.

It says that we are separated from any other person on earth by no more than six degrees.

For example, you could pick a random name from a random foreign country phonebook.

And you would have a friend (1), who has a friend (2), who has a friend (3), who has a

friend (4), who has a friend (5) who is also a friend of that randomly chosen foreigner (6).

The theory has never been fully proven.

But there have been a number of interesting experiments that support it.

One counted the links needed to get an email forwarded from the first person,  

Through a series of mutual friends, to the ultimate random target person.

The experiment used 25,000 pairs of people.

And found that the average number of links needed was—6.

Thinking about today’s saint—Pope Pius X,

I wondered what linkage he and I might have through time.

I was ordained by Cardinal McCarrick.

He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Cooke.

Cardinal Cooke was consecrated by Cardinal Spellman.

Cardinal Spellman was consecrated by Cardinal Pacelli

(who later became Pope Pius XII).

Cardinal Pacelli was consecrated by Pope Pius XI.

And Pope Pius XI was consecrated by today’s saint, Pope Pius X.

So, that was just six links.

Not exactly the same concept as the links between living people; but still interesting.

You might be surprised at how few degrees separate you from a canonized saint.

I know a few people who knew Mother Theresa, so for me, she’s just two degrees away.

The further back you try to go, the more links you’d need.

Pius the X was our 258^th pope; St Peter was our 1^st.

So it’d take me a lot more than six links to get back to St Peter.

But in today’s Gospel, St Peter asks Jesus:

What’s in it for those of us who follow you?

The simple answer from Jesus was, eternal life.

So, if St Peter has eternal life, he’s actually alive now.

And through the Communion of Saints, we can still talk to him directly.

We don’t need intermediaries; we can consider him our own first-degree friend.

And trust that—saintly guy that he is—he’ll be kind enough to return that friendship.

Our first-degree communion with saints isn’t limited to formally canonized saints.

We all directly knew people who have now gone on to eternal life in sainthood.

And, as when they were on earth, they’re still our first-degree friends.

And all the other saints are potential first-degree friends.

Maybe that will be one of the great joys of eternal life—

Renewing and establishing billions of first-degree relationships.

That and fully realizing our zero-degree separation from the mystical body.

Tuesday of the 20^th Week in Ordinary Time

1 Ez 28:1-10;  Mt 19:23-30

Read the Word at usccb.org