Op-Ed: Clergyman’s Hopeful Message Resonates in Hellertown

It feels like it’s been a horrible past week in America. It left lot of people sad and afraid for our country.

In this context, the priest at my local Catholic church in Hellertown—St. Theresa of the Child Jesus—seemed this last Sunday a bit out of touch with the times.

Instead of reflecting and spreading the gloom of millions of doom-scrolling Americans this week, the young Rev. John Hutta dared to speak about something many of us seem to have practically forgotten: Hope.

Naturally, the priest’s message at mass had a Roman Catholic spin. He’s a priest, after all, and Sept. 14 was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

But the young Rev. Hutta, raised in Pennsylvania coal country, channels a refreshing energy and confidence about values that no one faith monopolizes. So while Sunday’s sermon carried a nominally Christian theme—the “three Rs,” as he put it: Rebuild, Renew and Rejoice—it was impossible not to feel that his message could resonate with our entire nation right now. He was saying don’t give up. Don’t throw in the towel. Rise and take up your “cross”—whether it’s illness, loneliness, excessive pride, fear—and carry it with the hope and strength of God. When we hold our crosses high, we love. The words left me deeply moved.

If you’ve never heard one of Rev. Hutta’s vibrant homilies, you’re missing a chance to glimpse a more youthful face of Catholicism. (Given St. Theresa’s past as a kind of “minor league” for priests who end up in larger roles, I almost don’t want our “secret” getting out.) 

Rather than looking down upon congregants from a position of grandeur, he strives to connect emotionally, and he does. In anecdotes, he can turn an ordinary trip to Giant into an opportunity to learn about humanity. I see young parents bringing children up during communion for blessings, which says something about how they feel about Rev. Hutta and the caring message he shares. 

He’d probably be the first to admit he can be a bit nerdy and almost ridiculously upbeat. He quotes CS Lewis from memory and wears black and white Skechers—the ultimate dad shoe. It all feels like part of the charm.

This year, amid so many downbeat reports on Gen Z’s problems, we’re also learning that religious faith is on the upswing in the young. Who can blame them? Preachers like Rev. Hutta are surely part of the reason why: He’s animated, intense, rhetorically risk-taking and totally unpretentious—and most of all, he’s here, in our town, off-line.

“Who are God’s servants?” Rev. Hutta asked us rather boisterously at one point Sunday. It felt … awkward. My fellow Catholics in the pews were looking around at each other. Is he actually asking us what we think? There was a delightful discomfiture in the air. Finally, a woman answered, pointing at herself.

A resounding Yes! was the answer.

Rev. Hutta is one of many figures who make Saucon Valley truly special off-line. At a time when people are yearning for direction and meaning outside of poisonous national politics and somewhere besides TikTok and Facebook, it seems worth considering some of the area’s fine “IRL” sources of local hope. I count almost 20 places of worship in a three-mile radius of Main and Water, Hellertown, for instance. We lost one last year, sadly, but many other choices abound. We shouldn’t forget these comforting resources.

I myself am not the best Catholic, and I for one appreciate any Christian message that reminds me I will still be accepted, warts, neuroses and all. The lack of political pushiness or culture-war signaling in Rev. Hutta’s words snag me. But the deeper message of Christ’s love reels me in. And I need a reminder there’s another world, too; a better set of values, outside the whirlwind of social media and political rancor. Who would have thought I could find it just by driving a few minutes down Easton Road?

Bill Broun is a writer who lives in Hellertown. Opinions shared on our community platform are solely those of the author.