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.
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Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
Languages and words can be tricky at times. Some languages express sentiments better than others and some words can be really harsh. There are just some words in the food world that maintain its original language.
As we prepare to gather for the holiday season, we know there will be some conversations that will be difficult to navigate and some people who we might try to avoid. Fr. Ben will give some tips in this episode to help you with these situations, should you find yourself there.
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 @SoulFoodPriest!
Monday Dec 15, 2025
Monday Dec 15, 2025
Fr. Ben spends time in this Advent season encouraging us all to learn from our mistakes. This is how we grow in wisdom and humility. Listen to learn more and be hopeful.
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 @SoulFoodPriest !
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Fr. Ben provides a great homily on what makes the Catholic Church unique from all other churches. Watch to learn more and reflect on what it means to 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 @SoulFoodPriest. Thanks for listening!
Thursday Dec 04, 2025
Thursday Dec 04, 2025
In this episode, Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira discuss the beauty of Advent. What they do to prepare, family traditions, and some insights on the season itself and what it means.
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 @SoulFoodPriest.
Monday Dec 01, 2025
Monday Dec 01, 2025
Advent begins a new liturgical year in Catholicism. Fr. Ben invites you to take the time this Advent to ponder a few questions about this past year and look to the upcoming year. Listen and take some time to answer these questions personally and even as a family this season. You'll be happy you did!
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 @SoulFoodPriest.
Monday Nov 24, 2025
Monday Nov 24, 2025
There are many things in this world that we can't control, but there are two things we can control. Listen as Fr. Ben reveals those two things and how one can utilize them for the overall good of the world.
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!
Thursday Nov 20, 2025
Thursday Nov 20, 2025
Gratitude is key here @SoulFoodPriest ! Watch to learn why and why you should have gratitude as well, even in the midst of struggle.
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 @SoulFoodPriest. Thanks for listening!
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Fr. Ben gathers with over 100 women of his parish for a monthly event called Cocktails & Conversations. On this particular evening he provided great insight and wisdom on the topic of worry and anxiety. There are great psychological and theological lessons to gain from this. We hope you enjoy and allow God to provide His peace.
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Fr. Ben describes the three stages of life and what the second coming means. What does the "resurrection of the dead" from the creed mean? Watch to learn what is meant by this!
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 @SoulFoodPriest!
Monday Nov 10, 2025
Monday Nov 10, 2025
Fr. Ben describes honesty, integrity, and faith and how every Catholic can embody these three virtues. He also provides many historical examples of what happens when people are honest and when they are not. Hint: you can tell by the fruits. Take a listen!
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 @SoulFoodPriest !
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.