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
Sometimes it's easy to tell the truth, at other times it's something we don't want to do. Listen to what Fr. Ben has to say about that in this homily and how small lies can make a big impact.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 Jan 09, 2025
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Fr. Ben welcomes the New Year by inviting Khira and Silvia to the parish rectory. Kicking off Season 2 of Soul Food Priest with a very requested topic, "End of Life Care". Many do not want to talk about it and maybe leave it until it's inevitable. Fr. Ben gives us great advice on how to navigate this in a peaceful and loving way.
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Fr. Ben counsels many married couples on a regular basis. He shares some of his advice to the congregation that he often times shares with those couples. This homily provides some helpful tips for families and how to keep everyone well-grounded and humble.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can visit Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on Facebook at Soul Food Priest and on YouTube!
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
What would you say the most important days are in a person's life? Fr. Ben discusses this on Christmas. It's great to take stock of where we are in our faith at this time and discern what might be holding us back. Take a listen and be encouraged to take the right steps this season leading into the new year.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can visit Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on Facebook at Soul Food Priest and on YouTube!
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Fr. Ben explains in this homily the difference between confidence and ego. One can be rooted in humility. Take a listen so as to examine oneself if humility or the ego is at work in life.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Taking things slower in food preparation can enhance the dish one is preparing. The same could be said about one's spiritual life. Take a listen as Fr. Ben briefly explains how.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 Dec 09, 2024
Monday Dec 09, 2024
Fr. Ben explains the history of his parish in Memphis, TN and what it means to be parish. It's very interesting to rethink what "parish" means and reflect on what it means in your life. Research the history of your own parish and the importance of faith to those who laid the original stones.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can visit Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. You can also follow us on Facebook at Soul Food Priest and on YouTube!
Thursday Dec 05, 2024
Thursday Dec 05, 2024
The holidays are coming and that often mean baking sweet cookies, but also dealing with bitterness and struggle. This can be difficult when Christmas peace is all we want. So how do we maintain peace in our hearts and homes? How do we maintain that peace when we know some stressful events may occur? Fr. Ben, Silvia, and Khira provide great tips based on years of trial and error.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube. Thanks for listening!
Monday Dec 02, 2024
Monday Dec 02, 2024
Advent is the beginning of the new liturgical year, so look at it as your new year in the spiritual life. Fr. Ben gives three tips in becoming a better person that you can start to put in practice during the holiday season.
St. Michaels has also partnered with the Hallow app. We cannot encourage you enough to join their prayer challenges and better develop your prayer habits in this new year as well.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 28, 2024
Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Did you know the Vatican has a cookbook that was written by a Swiss Guard? Listen as Fr. Ben gives his opinion on this cookbook as well as talk about the importance of protection. He also covers the moral guidelines of protection according to the Church.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 go to www.stmichaelmemphis.org/ask-fr--ben 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.