Soul Food Priest
This is the podcast where culinary and Christianity collide. Each week Fr. Ben Bradshaw will serve up homilies, whip up Teaching Tapas, answer your burning questions, and pass along recipes.
Listen on:
Episodes
2 hours ago
2 hours ago
Fr. Ben creates three amazing dishes for Silvia and Khira that they’ve either never tried or there’s a surprise twist. With this idea of surprises that one can find in food, the topic of God allowing surprises to happen to us becomes a topic of discussion. Listen as we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to surprises in life.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? You can submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast through Facebook or you could email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
2 days ago
2 days ago
Fr. Ben reminds us that Easter is a time of hope and renewal. The only question is: Will you allow it to be that for your life? This homily message helps us know what that means and how we can better live as a people of hope.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com or at Soul Food Priest Facebook page to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on YouTube!
Monday Apr 14, 2025
Monday Apr 14, 2025
Fr. Ben gives a brief homily about Holy Week. Take a listen...it's only two minutes.
Please know if our prayers for you as we approach Easter.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? You can submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast through Facebook or you could email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
Monday Apr 07, 2025
Monday Apr 07, 2025
Lent is a time for self-reflection and purification. Fr. Ben reflects in this homily on the importance of reflecting on our stubborn ways and growing in humility. Take a listen to this difficult yet helpful homily.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? You can submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast through Facebook or you could email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
Friday Apr 04, 2025
Friday Apr 04, 2025
Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira continue their conversation with author and journalist George Weigel.
Mr. Weigel is most well-known for his two-part biography on St. John Paul II. While working on this biography, he developed a close friendship with the great saint. April 2, 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death, so we wanted to discuss with Mr. Weigel what St. John Paul II meant to him, the Church, and the rest of the world. We hope you enjoy our conversation.
To learn more about George Weigel and his writings, visit his website at www.georgeweigel.com.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com or at Soul Food Priest Facebook page to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on YouTube!
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira had the incredible honor of sitting with author and journalist George Weigel. Mr. Weigel is most well-known for his two-part biography on St. John Paul II. While working on this biography, he developed a close friendship with the great saint. April 2, 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death, so we wanted to discuss with Mr. Weigel what St. John Paul II meant to him, the Church, and the rest of the world. We hope you enjoy our conversation.
To learn more about George Weigel and his writings, visit his website at www.georgeweigel.com.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com or at Soul Food Priest Facebook page to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on YouTube!
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Fr. Ben had extra cherries in his kitchen, so we whipped several batches of clafoutis. Don’t know what that is? Watch and you’ll find out! What makes some parishes thrive and others remain stale? Fr. Ben researches this question online by seeing what people post and what surveys say. He reveals his findings and discusses them with Khira and Silvia.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com or at Soul Food Priest Facebook page to submit questions or follow us on YouTube!
Monday Mar 31, 2025
Monday Mar 31, 2025
Fr. Ben discusses the art of listening in this homily and the value of it. Being able to communicate is extremely important, but people often overlook the importance of listening. Spend some time listening to what the Lord may be teaching you.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? You can submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast through Facebook or you could email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
Monday Mar 24, 2025
Monday Mar 24, 2025
Fr. Ben preaches on what it means to be made in God's image and likeness. The deep beauty of who you are is incredible and God marvels at you. Do you know this? Take a listen and know your own identity this Lent.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com or at Soul Food Priest Facebook page to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on YouTube!
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up a small plate of couscous and tells you of various ways you can use it. He also relates it to the spiritual life. How is that possible?? Take a listen.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? You can submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast through Facebook or you could email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.com. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
Every other week Fr. Ben will be answering your burning questions regarding food and faith. He is joined by two of his friends and staff members, Silvia Vega and Khira Rotty, who will be the moderators for the upcoming Q & A episodes.
If you have a question for Fr. Ben regarding food or faith email us at soulfoodpriestmemphis@gmail.org or the Soul Food Priest FB page at https://www.facebook.com/soulfoodpriest/.
Fr. Ben Bradshaw S.T.L.
Originally baptized Lutheran, Fr. Ben became Catholic at a young age and attended Catholic schools in Memphis growing up.
He always loved to cook and always considered being a professional chef or a Catholic priest, and so he became both.
At age 17, he began working for a French chef in Memphis and worked in kitchens until age 20. He then entered Johnson & Wales University culinary arts program in Charleston, SC. There he earned an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts.
Fr. Ben then decided to travel to Russia where he lived and worked as a missionary with a religious community. It was there, in a small village, where he began to consider a calling to be a missionary priest. (Since then he has spent time visiting and working in Guatemala, Mexico, Africa, and Eastern and Western Europe.)
He returned home to Memphis and worked as a pastry chef for 5 years. This led him study in Paris, France at the L’Ecôle Lenôtre school of Pastry Arts, where he studied chocolate and pulled sugar artistry. He continued to consider more frequently the call to be a missionary priest.
After returning to the United States he attended The New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Food and Beverage Management. After graduating from NECI, Fr. Ben began considering an option he had not yet considered: Diocesan Priesthood. After much prayerful discernment, he entered the seminary at the age of 27 and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Memphis in June of 2006.
Fr. Ben earned a Masters of Arts and a Masters of Divinity in Sacred Theology. He wrote his Master's thesis on Pope Saint John Paul II's understanding of femininity and womanhood as it relates to writings of St. Edith Stein. He also holds a Licentiate degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C. The focus on his dissertation was on the response of the Catholic Church to the issue of Same-Sex attraction. Since 2005, his continuing education studies have been at the Theology of the Body Institute in Philadelphia, P.A.
Fr. Ben is currently the pastor of St. Michael's parish in Memphis, TN.