1) why arent they consumed in the reaction ( can you explain step by step how it influences the reaction?)
2) is it energy related?
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It is indeed energy related. In order to get a chemical reaction happening you need a certain amount of initial energy. But a catalyst is able to react to the initial chemicals using less initial energy and then again further to complete the reaction. But even though the catalyst is part of many of the intermediate reactions the end result have the catalyst in the same state as it started in. This is by definition. If this was not the case then we would not call it a catalyst.
Saying that a catalyst is not consumed is a bit misleading. This is because in practical applications it is very hard to keep the catalyst in place during the reaction. It is part of the reaction which means it forms into new chemical compounds and takes on new state of matter. So it might not be in the same place at the end of the reaction as it was at the start of the reaction. This means that practically speaking you are consuming some catalyst.
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