If we have been paying attention (granted, our society is quite attention deficit and hyperactive, so this may be asking a bit much), we would notice that amid all the manic activity of the holiday season that an undercurrent is present among those in our society who have at least a passing relationship with Christianity.
God is with us.
In the readings set aside for Mass today (check here) we hear this theme time and again, from promises in Isaiah to promises in the Psalms, to Gabriel's salutation to Joseph, and in St. Paul's greeting to the Church in Rome.
Isaiah promises that those threatening us will be no more.
The Psalm promises that we will be restored to joy and that our sorrows will be no more.
St. Paul states that God has given those who believe grace and a commission to bring all who would have God be able to draw near to God.
Matthew conveys that the deliverance promised by Isaiah is a deliverance from the eternal enemy of enemies, Sin and Corruption.
We sing of peace on earth, we greet each other with messages of cheer, but sadly some of us get bent over a perceived "War on Christmas," and others descend into a pit of despair and strife. However, all of these are not the real message that God has for us as we await the long-expected Messiah. The message is that GOD IS WITH US...not at a distance, not in an alternate dimension, not in dedicated buildings, but WITH US, present every moment, and He took bodily form to be with us even more closely. It is by that Body that He could take on not just our nature, but reform it, cleanse it, reconcile it to Him. And just as He was with us two millennia ago, He is close by, and if we let Him, dwelling within us to help us choose the good and reject the bad.
God is with us, are we with Him?