We do not merit because of anything that we do ourselves, but because of God's grace. God, in his grace, rewards us because of the grace that he has given us.
Grace leads to glory. It leads ultimately to the vision of God. In God's plan grace enables man to merit the vision of God. The vision is the reward for grace. (My Way of Life, 306).
Again:
There is no work of man, however great or noble, which would give man a right in justice to the vision of God. But God has made grace the meritorious principle or source of eternal life. In God's plan human acts performed with and through habitual grace will merit the vision of God for men. ... Grace is the power of God moving us to the vision of God (ibid., 307; emphasis added).
And this is what the Catechism says as well.
This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature (CCC #1998).
God saves us. We do not save ourselves. We must not and dare not rely upon "living a good life" as the basis of our hope for salvation. Our hope for salvation is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. When we obey God - as we must if we hope to attain to the beatific vision - we do not do so in our own strength, but only by his grace.
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