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CATHOLIC STORIES FOR CHILDREN: HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THE FAITH

By BRITNEY ZINT     2/4/2025

A CRADLE CATHOLIC, TREVOR Rothaus never doubted his beliefs, but his faith was filled with confusion until he accidentally signed up for a deep-dive Bible study. So, when he began teaching confirmation prep classes to teenagers and found they too were confused, he decided he wanted to help the next generation of Catholics deepen their understanding while meeting them where they are: online.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TREVOR ROTHAUS

“I realized that there is so much they don’t know about the faith, but they’re all on their phones all the time on Instagram, on YouTube, watching videos,” said Rothaus, a 32-year-old Placentia resident. Thus, was born the nonprofit Catholic Stories for Children, an expanding library of child-friendly animated videos created to clear up any theological misunderstandings early. The website, catholicstoriesforchildren.com, features animated videos for young children explaining prayers like the “Hail Mary” and “St. Michael”; a bite-sized series called “Daisy and Sheep” on the different parts of Mass; and a series called “Prayer Time with Angels” about guardian angels.

“The importance of Catholic Stories for Children is their dedication to faith and accuracy,” said friend and fellow St. Norbert Catholic Church parishioner Jeff Acton.

“They actually take the time to have their work looked over by religious leaders and strive to be faithful to the Holy Trinity.”

Rothaus said the idea is to provide what was missing from his own Catholic education — context — while helping children grow in virtue. To help teach children gratitude, there are videos on praying before meals; for humility, there are acts of contrition; for love, the prayers of intercession.

“Prayer is one of the basic building blocks of our faith and one of the things that people don’t always think about,” Rothaus explained. “With prayer, it changes you.”

TREVOR ROTHAUS IS THE CREATOR OF CATHOLIC STORIES FOR CHILDREN, DESIGNED TO TEACH YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT THE CATHOLIC FAITH. PHOTO BY SCOTT SMELTZER/DIOCESE OF ORANGE

THE BEGINNING
Rothaus grew up in a Catholic family, celebrating Mass every Sunday and graduating from St. Joseph Catholic School in Placentia and Servite High School.

“It was more going through the steps of going to Mass and praying the Rosary and just trying to live a very moral life,” Rothaus said, “as opposed to trying to live a very Catholic faith-filled life.

It was actually his mom’s persistence that finally broke through to him.

While home on break from Tufts University, she would continually invite him to join her Bible study. Finally, deciding to attend one night, Rothaus signed in and took his seat. It was then that he realized he had actually not merely signed in but signed up for a six-month Revelation through Genesis study.

“I was just planning to go to one,” Rothaus recalled.

Still, he decided to take it one week at a time and see how it went. “That was what really made me fall in love with the Catholic faith, with God, with Christ,” he added. “That really opened my eyes, and it gave context to everything; you see where it all fits into the story of salvation history.”

After the Bible study course, Rothaus, who was then a graduate working as a software engineer, decided he needed more. So, he started volunteering. He was excited about his Catholic faith and wanted to learn more and pray more, which led him to teach confirmation classes at Christ Cathedral.

While there he found that his students were struggling with understanding, just like he did.

“After doing all this, I was like, ‘OK, I need to teach other people this. Other people need to know this,’” Rothaus said. “If I went through a Catholic school and still felt like so much was missing, that was definitely the case for other people.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Now that Rothaus has graduated from the Franciscan University of Steubenville with a master’s in theology, he wants to build up Catholic Stories for Children. He is looking to add content for older children and even young adults.

In the works are two new series. “Songs of Saints” takes children into a moment in the life of a saint, where their prayer is composed into a song, like a “tiny musical,” Rothaus said. The other series is “Praying with Saints,” where children can pray along with their favorite saint. The nonprofit is finding “different stories that inspire kids, that educate them on the Catholic faith, that foster understanding of the beauty and joy of God’s love,” Rothaus said.

All the work, which takes animators, composers and a director, is paid through grants and individual donations.

“I always wonder how it’s going to keep on going, but God keeps on pulling through,” Rothaus said. “But it’s through other people. We constantly need other people to step up and help us, because this is helping so many parents and kids.”