Sorting Array via values from a file

I'm looking for ideas and can't think of anything straightforward. I've been tasked with sorting an input parameter (50 element char array) to a rpgle program. We're on 7.1. They are to be sorted based on a sort order in a file keyed by the individual element value. The array could have only one or two elements - the rest blank or all of them filled. Not all the elements are in the file, they can be sorted after the important elements in any order. There's only a few that are order dependent.

So an array like this:

ABC CAR DOG CAT THS THT MOR LES ... ... ... ...

With a sequence file (has many other fields and records not used by this process) like this:
DOG 1
CAT 2
CAR 5
XYZ 6
ABC 0
THT 0
ZZZ 0

Should be processed like this (order after CAR is not important):

DOG CAT CAR THS THT MOR LES ABC

Putting 999 into sortkey of the unimportant elements is a maintenance issue - someone someday will leave it zero and it will sort to the front. Reverse order sorting and setting DOG as 999 is possibility tho easily confusing at first. I'd like to KISS but it has to be reasonably efficient as the program is called constantly from a java web process so someone is waiting on the other end of the enter key.

Any suggestions?

TIA
Jack

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