Archbishop Joseph Mercieca yesterday urged newly-weds to allow more time for each other because nothing was more precious to them.
"The root cause of many current problems stems from the fact that couples are not managing to find enough time for each other" Mgr Mercieca told a Mass for couples married last year.
The Mass is held annually by the Cana Movement at St John's Co-Cathedral.
Mgr Mercieca said that while there were several reasons why couples were not finding enough time to devote to each other, they should bear in mind that nothing could be more precious and dear to them than their love for one another.
"What use is there to have a luxurious home and a big wedding, if that means that the couple hardly see each other as they go from job to job for years on end in order to keep up with expenses?
"What can be better than a united, happy family where the children see in both their parents the love, care and attention they need and rightly expect in a serene environment of lifelong unity?"
Mgr Mercieca said earlier in his homily that society was as good as the strength and unity of the families within it.
This was a time of growing secularism which was seeking to remove the presence of God from the people's lives, where people were being urged to live their life as they felt like at that moment, far removed from lasting commitment of love and fidelity.
But societies and families had suffered wherever couples had fallen into this trap, and were seeking a return to the times of lifelong marriage.
Malta and the Maltese were fortunate that the majority of couples still sought the lifelong bond of the sacrament of marriage.
"This is a treasure which Maltese society, in its own interest, should take care of and protect."
When a husband and wife love each other, over and above any sacrifice, they would also be loving themselves because they became one in marriage, Mgr Mercieca said.
Commitment was a tough challenge and married couples had to work to ensure that their love continued to grow.
They should never be disheartened by difficulties, but they should constantly pray together and seek to live their life on the example of God.
They should also take courage from the experience of the many thousands of couples who despite the ups and downs of life, had stayed together. They knew that when their love ran into problems, the best way forward was through forgiveness and reconciliation.
Figures tabled in Parliament last week showed that there were 1,533 church weddings and 544 civil weddings in Malta and 131 church weddings and 41 civil weddings in Gozo last year compared to the situation in 1995, when there were 1,812 church weddings and 333 civil weddings in Malta and 160 church weddings and 12 civil weddings in Gozo.
A total of 196 new marriage separation cases were filed in the Maltese courts last year and seven in Gozo; 150 of the cases were filed by the wife and 53 by the husband. In contrast 75 new separation cases were filed in Malta in 1995 along with five in Gozo.