There is a Jewish story of a man who was chasing another Jew to murder him. They ran a long distance when suddenly the two heard the call for mid-day prayer. The devout Jews stopped at their own positions, knelt in the direction of the Temple of Jerusalem to say their mid-day prayers. After their prayers, they continued their run.
Can you imagine a husband and wife fighting on their way to the Church and then stepping in silently for worship only to continue the fight after the Sunday worship?
Are there are contradictions in our way of life and our worship? Hatred and worship are opposed to each other. You cannot have hatred in your heart and praise on your lips. Such worship is hypocrisy. In the eyes of the world, one may see you as a devout and religious person, but God searches the depths of our hearts and knows our hypocrisy.
Worship has both a horizontal and a vertical dimension; God and me and my fellow-brothers and sisters and me.
A willingness to forgive and overlook the wrongs people do us and the courage to ask forgiveness from the ones we have wronged is what makes our worship complete. Any amount of worship or sacrifice will be vanity before God if there is no reconciliation with one another. Jesus says "When you bring your offering to the altar and then remember you have something against your brother, l eave that offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering" (Mathew 5:24).
Forgiveness is in itself an act of worship. We can forgive only when we have love in our heart. We can love when we are convinced of the love God has for us. The starting point of loving and forgiving others is to deeply realize that we have been forgiven by God. Saint Paul talks about love as an essential ingredient of worship, 'I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I do not have love I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal before God. I may have the gift of prophecy, and possess all knowledge of the mysteries and even have faith to move mountains, but if I do not have love, I am nothing'. (I Corinthians 13:1).
So, let your worship be coupled with love, forgiveness and praise. God listens with gladness.