Hmm... devotions are definitely "Faith in Action." The Catechism is a doctrinal crystalization of the Faith, not a "practical" one.
Should pastors quiz parishioners about their sins in public before they distribute Communion, too?
The confirmation examination is about one's understanding of the faith, not one's sins. Priests traditionally probed the laity's understanding of the faith during their mandated Lenten confessions, but that's rarely practiced anymore, either.
That's true in general, but there is no guarantee that a fervent practice of Marian devotions, for example, reflects an accurate understanding of the Blessed Mother's position in the larger context of the Church. "Faith" can be "faith in something one understands wrongly."
The confirmation examination is about one's understanding of the faith, not one's sins.
Yes, I understand that, but if a pastor or Bishop is going to attach up-or-down, testing conditions to the Sacraments, it would make sense to me if it were in a Biblically relevant context.
Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation is not based on a certain level of information. The Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches administer Confirmation/Chrismation to infants, who obviously have no specific knowledge of the Faith. In the Bible, we see that the Holy Spirit came upon the household of Cornelius, who had been exposed only to the basics of the Gospel, as well as upon the Apostles, whose understanding was quite parlous up to that point.
In summary, knowledge and wisdom are gifts brought by the Holy Spirit, not prerequisites for His coming upon a believer.
On the other hand, we see in the Bible and throughout Catholic Tradition that serious sin is a major impediment to receiving the Eucharist. A deadly impediment, St. Paul says. So if pastors are going to withhold the Sacraments from those who are "unworthy" or "inadequately prepared," it seems to me the obvious point to do that would be where souls are imperilled.