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
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.
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Are you experiencing burnout? What can you do when you experience it? How can you avoid burnout? Fr. Ben provides great spiritual and practical advice on this topic.
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Todos Somos Inmigrantes/We Are All Immigrants
Padre Ben y Silvia hablan sobre la belleza de las diferentes culturas. ¿Somos todos inmigrantes? ¿Cómo podemos unir nuestras comunidades? ¿Cómo podemos abrazar con amor a nuestros hermanos y hermanas de diferentes países?
Fr. Ben and Silvia talk about the beauty of different cultures. Are we all immigrants? How can we come unite our communities? How can we lovingly embrace our brothers and sisters from different countries.
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
This small plate contains the beauty of why restaurants are so popular and how they originated.
Monday Jan 23, 2023
Monday Jan 23, 2023
At various times throughout the day, we might be faced with people and problems that will test us. How will we respond? Is it ok to fight back? Fr. Ben gives advice on how to engage in the fight and remain humble.
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Where does the papacy come from? What's the role of the Pope? Why does the Church need a Pope? Who appointed the first Pope? In this episode, all of these questions, and more, are answered.
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Do you panic when life gets tough? Want to know how to respond rather than react? Listen to this homily where Fr. Ben teaches us how to grow in spiritual common sense and not be discouraged.
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.