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
Monday Mar 17, 2025
Monday Mar 17, 2025
Fr. Ben talks about the courage to walk upstream in our culture, especially when it comes to truth. It takes a lote of courage to be Catholic, but there are so many who have witnessed it throughout history. Take a listen to hopefully be built up in your faith.
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 Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Fr. Ben and Khira get the privilege of sitting with Sr. Mary Lawrence again to discuss God’s infinite love for each person. The joy in her face as she describes the love of God is beautiful and contagious. Our prayer is that you are able to live in that love, so watch and hear how you can.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can visit 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 and on any podcast platform!
Monday Mar 10, 2025
Monday Mar 10, 2025
Soul Food Prest wants to brag on our very own Silvia Vega. She covered the song "Run to the Father" by Matt Maher at St. Michael's1st Sunday of Lent Mass. It was recorded live through our livestream. Fr. Ben gave a brief statement about the Diocesan Capital Campaign, so we wanted to share this video with you in lieu of a homily. May you have a blessed Lent running to the Father.
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 Silvia at Silvia Vega Music on Facebook or Instagram.
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up sourdough in this episode. He talks about what makes it have the tang. This process of creating a sourdough starter can easily be related to how our hearts can become sour over time. 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. Thanks for listening!
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Monday Mar 03, 2025
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and it is on that day that Christians are really reminded of their mortality. Fr. Ben talks on the difficult topic of death as a way to prepare for this coming Lent. How can we prepare for death? Why should we reflect on our mortality? These questions, and others, are addressed in this homily.
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!
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Fr. Ben just completed a week of creating over 650 king cakes as a fundraiser for his parish. He shares it with you this week as well as the origins of the “King Cake”. As he was preparing all those king cakes, news of the Pope’s failing health was reported. Many people then started asking the questions of “What happens if the Pope dies?”. This is the topic Fr. Ben, Silvia, and Khira discuss.
Please join us in prayer as we pray for the healing of Pope Francis.
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 Feb 24, 2025
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Fr. Ben discusses the key points that those who are young can and should learn from those who are older. Life will be more beautiful when one adopts this wisdom in life. Take a listen to what they are.
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 Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Fr. Ben and Khira sit with Sister Mary Lawrence, O.P. to discuss religious life. Many people often ask questions about the life of a sister or nun but rarely get to hear from one. In this episode you have the privilege of listening to our dear friend explain the life of a sister.
Sr. Mary Lawrence is a Dominican sister from the St. Cecelia Congregation in Nashville and is the principal of a school in Memphis. She’ll discuss more of what all this means and what their particular charism is as a community.
Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear from you! You can visit 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 and on any podcast platform!
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Fr. Ben discusses what he thinks are the top 5 reasons we should be proud to be Catholics. These are his opinions, but he also gives great evidence to back them up. Take a listen and you'll learn a lot.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. 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 Feb 06, 2025
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Fr. Ben serves up a small lesson on patina. He teaches what it is physically and how it can apply to one's spiritual life. Take a listen and learn.
Got a question you'd like to ask Fr. Ben? Go to Ask Fr. Ben | St. Michael Church (stmichaelmemphis.org) to submit questions and topic ideas for the podcast. The questions can be on faith or food! You can also follow us on Facebook and YouTube at Soul Food Priest. Thanks for listening!
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.