Endothermic reactions absorb energy from the environment, and store that new energy in chemical bonds formed from the initial reaction.
Reactants contain more potential energy than the products of reactions, because chemistry requires activation energy.
A catalyst speeds up a reaction by lowering the reaction energy, so that a reaction may occur at lower temperatures, pressures, and concentrations.
Therefore, if particular reactants get close enough, and become densely concentrated, or if the reactants gain temperature, or are under high pressure, only a tiny amount of activation energy is needed to start the reaction.