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
7 days ago
7 days ago
Fr. Ben receives a lot of questions regarding spreading the ashes of a loved one. Why doesn't the Catholic Church allow that? Fr. Ben, Khira and Silvia discuss this topic, and Silvia attempts to explain a type of Mexican bread that is a way of remembering one's mortality.
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 at Soul Food Priest!
Thursday Jun 05, 2025
Thursday Jun 05, 2025
The majority of the Church consists of laity. Who are they? The average Catholics in the pews. Those who are married or single and are not a consecrated religious.
Vatican II called for leadership in the laity. What does that mean for the average Catholic? Take a listen as Fr. Ben explains what the role of the laity is.
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 Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Typically, near the Solemnity of the Ascension, Fr. Ben gets asked multiple questions about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. He decided to do a homily to explain what all three are and how the individual person decides what they want. Listen to better understand.
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 May 29, 2025
Thursday May 29, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up a small teaching on the four aspects of cooking and how it relates to one's daily life. Listen to learn the four to heighten your meals as well as your 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!
Wednesday May 28, 2025
Wednesday May 28, 2025
Fr. Ben addresses the one of the most radical teachings of Jesus that only His followers are required to follow: Love thy enemies. Why MUST we do that? It's also so countercultural; however, Fr. Ben addresses why this teaching is vital to follow and what it can unlock in one's 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!
Thursday May 22, 2025
Thursday May 22, 2025
The top question Fr. Ben is receiving right now is: What do you think about the new pope? Everyone wants to know, so Fr. Ben shares some of his initial thoughts on the new Pope, Leo XIV. Along with this, one of the top qualities we hear about Pope Leo is the ability to listen, so Father, Silvia and Khira discuss the art of listening in the first part of this episode.
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 May 19, 2025
Monday May 19, 2025
Fr. Ben reflects major lessons from three of the Pope Leos: Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope Leo XIII, & Pope Leo XIV. What is the main common thread in all three? Take a listen to find out!
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!
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
All should take a listen to this homily to have a greater appreciation for moms and overall parenting. There is some great insight on how to take care of the moms in your life, and, moms, how to take care of yourselves.
Moms, thank you for all you do!!
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 May 08, 2025
Thursday May 08, 2025
Many people have asked Fr. Ben for his assessment of Pope Francis' pontificate. Last week Fr. Ben focused on the positives; this week he focuses on some of the criticisms.
Please join us in prayer as a new pope will soon be elected.
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!
Tuesday May 06, 2025
Tuesday May 06, 2025
Fr. Ben shares the beautiful wisdom of the importance of humility and how that affect one's day to day life in numerous ways. Want to learn the way of peace? 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.
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.