I have watched many couple, including my parents, live out courageously the vows they made to each other to remain true in sickness as well as in health. Almost every married couple will face a time when one of them is sick, even terminal, and the other will need to be there in loving support.
I’ve spoken recently to someone who was worried about their spouse because their spouse was seriously ill. And I’ve spoken recently to people who were worried about their spouse because they themselves were terminally ill, and wondered how their spouse would do without them. That is the sacrament of marriage being lived out in all its beauty and power. That is a couple loving each other as the scriptures say Christ loves his bride the Church.
Jesus said “No one must separate what God has joined.” Sometimes, it’s not possible to separate a couple because their love for each other is so strong and faithful. Yet at other times, a couple needs to be separated for their own good, such as when there is some form of an abusive relationship or perhaps when it is believed that God did not really intend for a couple to be joined due to irreconcilable differences. But I thank God for those many couples I have seen over the years who indeed remind us of how God loves us in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.