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
16 hours ago
16 hours ago
Fr. Ben discusses the key points that those who are young can and should learn from those who are older. Life will be more beautiful when one adopts this wisdom in life. Take a listen to what they are.
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 Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Fr. Ben and Khira sit with Sister Mary Lawrence, O.P. to discuss religious life. Many people often ask questions about the life of a sister or nun but rarely get to hear from one. In this episode you have the privilege of listening to our dear friend explain the life of a sister.
Sr. Mary Lawrence is a Dominican sister from the St. Cecelia Congregation in Nashville and is the principal of a school in Memphis. She’ll discuss more of what all this means and what their particular charism is as a community.
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 any podcast platform!
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Fr. Ben discusses what he thinks are the top 5 reasons we should be proud to be Catholics. These are his opinions, but he also gives great evidence to back them up. Take a listen and you'll learn a lot.
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 Feb 06, 2025
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up a small lesson on patina. He teaches what it is physically and how it can apply to one's spiritual life. Take a listen and learn.
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 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
There have been many anti-Catholic sentiments over the course of the Church's entire existence. Where does it come from? Is there truth to any of them? What can Catholics do to dispel any confusion that exists around Catholicism? Fr. Ben tackles all these questions in this one episode!
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 Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 27, 2025
How do you grow in virtue? This is the main question Fr. Ben poses to his parishioners and to you today. Knowing what virtue is and knowing how to grow in it makes us a people of moral character. Take a listen to this homily filled with great wisdom and examples of virtuous people.
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 Jan 23, 2025
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up a small bit of knowledge on Chef Tom Colicchio, the judge and head producer of the show Top Chef. Colicchio remembers the moment words had a massive impact on him, and so Fr. Ben elaborates on this reality of our words.
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 Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
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!
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.