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 Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Fr. Ben's parish, St. Michael in Memphis, has a mass where persons with special needs participate in the liturgy and prayers are offered for them. It's such a beautiful mass! Enjoy this homily from that mass.
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 YouTube!
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Have you ever heard of Mukbang? It comes from South Korea. Listen to this episode and Fr. Ben will fill you in on this new phenomenon and what it reveals.
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!
Monday Sep 16, 2024
Monday Sep 16, 2024
Listen as Fr. Ben explains one virtue that will greatly benefit when on the struggle bus. Reaching out for help, growing in our faith, having a continual prayer life, and developing healthy friendships all help in fostering this particular virtue.
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 Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Just a reminder that you can see this episode on YouTube at Soul Food Priest - YouTube!
Many people, Catholic and non-Catholics, are confused on the difference between chastity and celibacy. This is a common question he and Khira receive as they teach the Theology of the Body. So, in this episode, Fr. Ben clarifies and reveals the beauty of both. Many even wonder how men and women could take a vow of celibacy! Now you can hear Fr. Ben's perspective as a celibate priest.
Plus, we'd love to hear from you on what your favorite dining experience has ever been! Please comment or email us at sfppodcast@icloud.com!
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!
Monday Sep 09, 2024
Monday Sep 09, 2024
Fr. Ben explains in this homily what patience is, how to grow in it, and he tells a great story about Michaelangelo.
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 YouTube!
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Fr. Ben discusses a famous quote from French food writer, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, and how contemplation of this quote should lead one to gratitude. Take a listen to hear this famous quote and why we should be grateful every time we eat.
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!
Tuesday Sep 03, 2024
Tuesday Sep 03, 2024
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 YouTube!
Thursday Aug 29, 2024
Thursday Aug 29, 2024
You can now watch Soul Food Priest on YouTube! Go to Soul Food Priest - YouTube to like & subscribe!
Scents, especially from food, have the ability to bring back memories through our olfactory glands. Fr. Ben discusses this topic with Silvia and Khira as they reminisce about some of those memories. Along with this, Fr. Ben gives insight on what it's like to be a diocesan priest. People always question what a diocesan priest do throughout their days. Take a listen!
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!
Monday Aug 26, 2024
Monday Aug 26, 2024
There's a fine line in having a healthy work life and allowing it to dictate life. Fr. Ben discusses this very topic in his homily this week. There is a dignity to work, so take a listen to learn what it is and how to stay balanced.
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 let us know what you think of the podcast.
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Fr. Ben serves up a drink today that you'll either love or hate- Chartreuse. Sometimes our opinions of food, drink, and people can be off or change over time. Listen to this helpful lesson from Fr. Ben.
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 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.