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
3 days ago
3 days ago
Fr. Ben's homily this past weekend is on learning from our mistakes. How can we grow from them? How can we combat shame and discouragement when they happen? Watch as he presents some great spiritual advice on this topic.
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 Apr 27, 2026
Monday Apr 27, 2026
Fr. Ben explains in the homily why we can trust God with our prayers. Oftentimes people doubt if God is listening or if He's there. It all takes faith, surrender, and trust. Listen to learn more.
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 13, 2026
Monday Apr 13, 2026
Fr. Ben gives insight as to how often he's thinking about food! However, this leads to a more serious topic of how to control emotions, surrender, and make prudent decisions. Watch to receive practical insight on growing in spiritual maturity.
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 !
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
We are a people of HOPE! Listen as Fr. Ben explains why and how this is Good News for EVERYONE! We pray you have a blessed Easter.
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 Mar 23, 2026
Monday Mar 23, 2026
Fr. Ben provides explanation on the differences between sympathy, empathy, and compassion. He also explains how we can become better in all three of these areas. Take a listen!
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 Mar 10, 2026
Tuesday Mar 10, 2026
Fr. Ben addresses a topic that plagues so many people in our culture- worry and anxiety. In this homily, he provides practical ways to help maintain peace.
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 02, 2026
Monday Mar 02, 2026
Fr. Ben discusses what psychologists call the "butterfly effect". This principle can relate to one's own spiritual life. Take a listen this Lent to reflect on your own life and decisions you can make to better your spiritual 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!
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Fr. Ben provides a list of some of life's greatest lessons. Jesus reminds us of true happiness in the beatitudes, and Fr. Ben's homily provides more insight on attaining that happiness Jesus speaks of.
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 watching!
Tuesday Jan 20, 2026
Tuesday Jan 20, 2026
Fr. Ben preaches on the importance of one's vocation as the way God has called you to express His love. He also takes the time to reflect on the beauty of religious life and gives interesting statistics on the state of vocations in the United States.
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 YouTube @SoulFoodPriest !
Monday Jan 05, 2026
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.