When I first picked up Nora Gallagher’s book THE SACRED MEAL, I expected to find something that read like a college textbook, or worse yet, a doctorial dissertation.  What a joy to find a book that deals with a complex subject matter that’s written for the common layperson.  Filled with personal anecdotes, Gallagher’s book reads like a novel sprinkled with spiritual insights.  Communion is less of a ritual than a place for sinners to come and be fed.  It’s a connection point between a loving God and his prized creation.  It’s a remembrance of a sacrifice and a foretaste of a great banquet.  It’s an act of worship that infuses every aspect of our lives from how we handle rush-hour traffic to how we see and interact with the homeless.  Whatever you call it, whether it be The Eucharist, Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, this book intertwines the holy with the practical.  This book might as well have been titled “Living out Communion in Your Everyday Life”, for it really gives feet to a sacrament that was meant as a remembrance of a Savior destined for a cross.