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
Monday Jun 10, 2024
Monday Jun 10, 2024
What is honor? What does it mean to you? Honor is in the marriage vows and 10 Commandments. We say we'll do it, but do we really understand what we are agreeing to? Take a listen as Fr. Ben explains this virtue and gives examples of true honor.
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 Jun 06, 2024
Thursday Jun 06, 2024
Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira discuss whether or not they love gorgonzola or blue cheese. Listen to find who likes it or not. They also discuss the importance of rest, especially as we are in summertime.
Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira also have some fun news to share!!
Have a question? Go to 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.
Monday Jun 03, 2024
Monday Jun 03, 2024
It's very easy for people to give up on hope, especially when tragedy strikes. Discouragement and despair can set in, but they are the thief of all hope. Where should our hope be placed? Listen as Fr. Ben discusses this beautiful topic and the witness a parish family provided for him, and for all of us, in their time of tragedy. Our prayers are with the Lopez family.
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 May 30, 2024
Thursday May 30, 2024
Not only do you receive the recipe to make chocolate mousse, but Fr. Ben also serves you a small bit of history on how the Catholic Church chose the books of the Bible. This episode is short but it sure is loaded with flavor!
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. You can also follow us on Facebook at Soul Food Priest.
Tuesday May 28, 2024
Tuesday May 28, 2024
Fr. Ben provides great wisdom for married couples regarding intimacy and communication. Yes, that's right, a celibate man giving marital advice! However, he has worked with hundreds of couples for over 15 years providing counseling, so this is advice is what he has gleaned from those sessions.
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 May 23, 2024
Thursday May 23, 2024
Fr. Ben received a request from a listener to explain the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. He does an amazing job and relates it to panforte! Don't know what either of those are? Take a listen.
Fr. Ben, Silvia and Khira also have some fun news to share!!
Have a question? Go to 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.
Monday May 20, 2024
Monday May 20, 2024
Fr. Ben points out in this homily that all throughout history there has been evil, but there have always been faithful witnesses. To be a faithful witness, it takes courage and boldness. Do you have that? Listen as Fr. Ben challenges you to be bold!
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.
Monday May 13, 2024
Monday May 13, 2024
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, both physical and spiritual! Thank you for all you do. Fr. Ben gives some great advice for you in this homily and some helpful advice for the dads.
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 May 09, 2024
Thursday May 09, 2024
Give us this day our daily (ciabatta) bread! There are hundreds of bread recipes, so what does this line of the Our Father mean? The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the Our Father, so Fr. Ben unpacks the prayer for you, especially as we approach Father's Day.
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.
Monday May 06, 2024
Monday May 06, 2024
In this homily, Fr. Ben digs into what honesty truly means, and it's not just "not lying". He also is very open and honest about the good of the Church and identifies some of the weaknesses in the Church. Take a listen to hear his honest opinions and pray about where the Lord is leading you to be a more honest person.
Have a question? Go to 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.
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.