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 Mar 09, 2023
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
Figuring out how to navigate the spiritual life can be a bit like properly seasoning a dish. Less might be best!
Monday Mar 06, 2023
Monday Mar 06, 2023
We all make mistakes. Our response to our mistakes can lead to harm or transformation. What does Jesus teach us regarding the mistakes we make? How does He treat His apostles? Don't be harsh on yourself because we all are making mistakes.
Thursday Mar 02, 2023
Thursday Mar 02, 2023
Rejoice & Repent cause now it's Lent!! Why do Catholics observe Lent? What's the purpose of Lent? The discussion today will be addressing these questions and hopefully have you think about this season in a new way. Also, Father quotes "The Greatest Showman"!
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Are you concerned what others think of you? We cannot place our peace in the hands of others. There's only one who can give us peace. Listen to Father's homily to find out where to find peace and how to maintain it.
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Fr. Ben serves up a description of moral character based on the expectations Emeril Lagasse had on his staff.
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
January 23 is the Day of the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Many people's questions arise regarding what the Church teaches regarding the dignity of the human person, abortion, and when life begins. In this episode, Fr. Ben provides answers to these major questions.
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Chaos is all around and can happen at any moment. We can either allow the chaos to rob us of peace or we can maintain peace. Is this possible? How? Fr. Ben sheds light on this topic, esp through the life of St. Josephine Bakhita.
(There will not be a homily released next week due to Bishop's Annual Appeal.)
Monday Feb 06, 2023
Monday Feb 06, 2023
Jealousy is something most people struggle with. Where does it come from? Listen as Fr. Ben explains the difference between jealousy and envy, the harm it causes in our lives, and how we can extract it from our hearts.
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Listeners have asked: "How can we know what God Will's for our life?" and "how do we adjust to change?". In this episode, Fr. Ben provides great insight into proper discernment of God's Will, what to do, and how to be remain calm in the midst of stress.
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.