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
Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Saturday Apr 08, 2023
Here is Father Ben's reflection on Holy Thursday in both Spanish and English.
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Some people try to provide remedies to cooking mistakes that are completely not true. Others speak and cast assessments on others who are divorced that can also be completely not true. Fr. Ben serves up truth on both of these topics.
If you would like to submit a question, you can visit the Soul Food Priest FB page or go to our parish website here.
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
In lieu of a homily on Palm Sunday, Fr. Ben offers prayers for all those killed in Nashville.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls, and all the souls of the faithfully departed, rest in peace.
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Changing our eating habits can be incredibly difficult! Parenting can be incredibly difficult! Why is this and how can we parent well? In this episode Fr. Ben discusses this with Khira Rotty & Silvia Vega, who are in the daily struggles of parenting, how love is the act of the will and we have to be strong.
If you would like to submit a question, you can visit the Soul Food Priest FB page or go to our parish website here.
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Monday Mar 27, 2023
How do we dial the drama in our life so we can be happy? This is the major question Fr. Ben answers in this homily. He also provides three tips on how to ensure the drama doesn't lead to further frustration and steal our peace.
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Generally speaking, there are three categories of food. (Listen to get a great comfort food recipe!) There are also, in our culture, various categories for gender. Fr. Ben discusses these various categories, what we believe as Catholics, and how we can confront this issue in charity.
If you would like to submit a question, you can visit the Soul Food Priest FB page or go to our parish website here.
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
The news is reporting the increasing rates of teen depression and suicide, especially among women. This topic has been weighing heavily on Fr. Ben's heart, and he wanted to address it so as to provide clarification and hope to all. The Lord wants all to be healed, so do not be afraid to reach out for help.
If you, or anyone you know is struggling with depression or have thoughts of suicide, call 988. Please know you are in our prayers.
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Listen to this homily as Fr. Ben explains some of the differences and similarities between Catholicism and Protestantism. It's important for all people to know their faith and ask the important questions (Father addresses some of those questions). Deep conversions take place when there are beautiful witnesses in the world who can give a reason as to why they believe what they believe.
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
What are some of the rules regarding food during Lent? What about special feast days?
What's the purpose of the Creed? Why is it so important? What does it mean? What does consubstantial mean?
Fr. Ben & Khira tackle some of the questions you have.
Silvia could not be with us during this recording. Her husband underwent surgery and is recovering. Please pray for his healing and their family.
If you would like to submit a question, you can visit the Soul Food Priest FB page or go to our parish website here.
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Loneliness is very difficult because the Lord made us for communion. What can we do to prevent loneliness? What is required of us to achieve communion with others? Listen to this homily and Fr. Ben will answer these questions.
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.