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
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
This small plate served up for you today includes the first celebrity chef, the use of food as a political tool, and the temptation to get ahead in life. We hope you savor the deep truth Fr. Ben serves about the uniqueness of you.
Go to 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. We'd love to hear your feedback as well!
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
What does true masculinity look like and why is it so important? In this homily, Fr. Ben defines Christian masculinity and explains what that looks like in today's world. He provides examples of real-life men who live up to this model despite all the hardships in life.
Go to 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.
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
In this episode you'll learn the amazing story of Chef Marco Pierre White and how he practiced great virtue during a pivotal moment in his life. The discussion then leads to the four cardinal virtues and what it means to grow in virtue every day.
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
In this homily, Fr. Ben speaks on the beauty and the gift of those with special needs in our community. They truly are a gift from God! What can they teach? How do they witness to us? Listen to this homily to find out.
Please go to stmichaelmemphis.org for more information about St. Michael's parish and submit questions to be addressed on the podcast. You can also follow us on Facebook at the St. Michael Catholic Church page and the Soul Food Priest Page.
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Fr. Ben serves up a pre-meal drink, or aperitivo, and connects it to the importance of gathering with others.
Google aperitivo and you will find some great recipes or go to this site for some Fall recipes: Fall-Friendly Aperol Spritz Riffs (foodandwine.com).
Let us know what you think by posting on the Soul Food Priest FB page! We'd love to hear from you!
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
This is a beautiful homily on the lessons the youth can teach adults as well as advice on how adults can support the youth. Fr. Ben also talks about the beautiful traditions the church has to remind all parents that the youth ultimately belong to God. Prayer for the youth as well as the faithful adults who seek to raise them in the Faith.
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
The most frequently asked question Fr. Ben receives is: How do parents help to keep their kids in the Faith? They face major obstacles in their life. Fr. Ben has this discussion with Khira and Silvia and provides great words of wisdom.
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
This homily is all about getting out of your head and changing your way of thinking. Thinking positively also removes the weeds of discouragement that easily creep up in us. This can drastically affect those around you and how you treat them. Enjoy!
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
This small serving is filled with Fr. Ben's insight on success. Is it good? Where should our focus be?
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
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.