[Governor Dinwiddie]

Why are some people measuring the year in “ordinary time” instead of after Pentacost or after Trinity?

[CMRosary]

In 1969, Pope Paul VI issued motu proprio “Mysterii Paschalis,” announcing revisions to the General Roman Calendar. These changes were detailed in the document “Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar.”

It has been argued that the word “ordinary” in this new calendar does not mean common or usual, but refers instead to ordinal number. Nevertheless, ¶43 of Universal Norms clearly states that “there remain in the yearly cycle thirty-three or thirty-four weeks in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated […] this period is known as Ordinary Time.”

Make of that what you will.