Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna urged Catholics to continue to "cherish the gift of life" from the moment of conception in his annual Christmas message.
"How meaningful it would be that we not only cherish life along the years by treasuring the presence of the elderly in our lives and ensure that they live their old age with dignity, but that we also cherish the baby in the mother’s womb," he said.
The Archbishop said Christmas should encourage people to pause and reflect on fundamental questions "put by humankind, in every culture and every age" about where we are coming from and where we are going.
"Our Christian faith shows us that the answers to the questions that spring from our fundamental thirst for understanding are found in the small and helpless child who is inviting us to listen to his voice," he said. "This voice is telling us: ‘Take care of me’. The baby’s cry tells us when he is hungry and thirsty or he is feeling cold and needs someone to feed or swaddle him."
"While the child of Bethlehem invites us to partake in the stillness of the night and pause for quiet to reflect on our lives, the Baby Jesus also reminds us that life has a value that is priceless. We often tend to put a price on everything but lose sight of their real value. Our Christmas will be truly blessed if while we exchange gifts we realise that God became man so that we may live in dignity. This realisation should help us to respect each other’s dignity, to forgive each other, and live together in peace."
He also called on the Christian community, and anybody else marking Christmas, to continue to celebrate the feasts of the coming 12 days: the celebration of the Motherhood of Mary on January 1, and Epiphany on January 6, the encounter of Jesus with the non-Jewish Magi.
"Even we, who are not Jewish, have nevertheless met Jesus very early in our history, with the arrival on our shores of our Father in faith, Saint Paul the Apostle. During his stay among us we learnt of the healing power of Jesus of Nazareth; the child whose birth in the grotto in Bethlehem we are celebrating. This child continues to invite us into the stillness of this holy night where we find care, forgiveness, many blessings and good health."