CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines -- Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales Monday asked priests not to get stuck with the 1986 Edsa revolt and instead initiate change and do good.

In his homily at the first Central Luzon Clergy Day here, Rosales said many Filipinos, including religious leaders, have failed to understand that the Edsa 1 bloodless revolt was "a process."

"What do you make of Edsa? For a man or woman who does not have faith, that is what they see of Edsa -- an event. Edsa is an experience of a history of being saved. It?s not [an] event," he said.

"We thought it was it. Wrong, brothers and sisters. We want to be free [but] we don?t want to pay the cost. We mistakenly think or thought that Edsa was the crossing."

The mistake, he said, was "ours from the very beginning."

He said like the Israelites who wanted to remain near the sea where after crossing it, they liberated themselves from a tyrannical pharaoh, Filipinos always want to return to Edsa I by repeating the same formula of ousting a leader.

But unlike the Israelites who ventured far into the desert, discovered the "tyrants from within" and reformed, Filipinos have yet to go into spiritual transformation.

"Hanggang ngayon di pa natin nakikita ang Diyos. Bakit? Sapagka?t ayaw nating pumasok sa disyerto, sapagakat gusto natin sa tabi ng Edsa (Up to now, we haven?t seen God. Why? Because we don?t want to venture into the desert, because we want to remain near Edsa)," he said.

"We keep returning to Edsa. That is why we can?t attain our liberation. We don?t want to journey far into sacrifice, into changing ourselves, because of the cost," he said.

At one point in his 35-minute homily, he humored the clergy, saying Moses, Aaron and the Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert before reaching the Promised Land.

"Malayo pa tayo (We are still far)," he chuckled, noting that Edsa I is only on its 22nd year.

"Where are we? They keep asking the church what to do. And they want us to bring them again to the sea. Hindi matatapos ang istorya natin (Our story will not end)," he said.

Rosales urged the 200 priests in Pampanga, Bataan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Zambales who gathered in the assembly to "accompany our loving poor people, join them as we enter the desert."

Making a dig on the rich, he said:

"The rich don?t want to go into the desert. Those who want to rush join protest rallies."

In an interview, Rosales said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself should "enter the desert."

"Otherwise or she?ll be left behind. All leaders, not only the people, should go into the desert," he said.

Asked if he agreed with Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. that Arroyo could be impeached since she admitted that the NBN-ZTE deal was flawed but allowed it to proceed, Rosales said:

"Paulit-ulit tayong ganyan kaya hindi umuunlad ang bayan (We always resort to that that?s why our country does not move forward)."

He again cited the example of Moses and the Israelites.

"The tyrant is not the pharaoh but all of us," he said.

The country?s leaders as well as the people, he said, should go into "communal discernment" by finding answers to the following questions: "What?s evil in me? How am I hindering the progress of my country? Am I selfish? Am I boastful? Where do I cheat?"

"When we find the answers to these, believe me, we will all grow up. The difficult part here is that we always want to be near the sea. We keep going back to Edsa," he said.

He clarified he was not discouraging people to join protest rallies.

"Go ahead. It?s even good that many people are demanding changes. That?s better," Rosales said.

The papal nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Edward Adams, made no reference to Edsa but said priests should work to "eliminate confusion about what is right and what is wrong."